Lioness
by Aerilon452
Summary: Jayden is a lion abnormal with a link to Helen that none of the Sanctuary crew would ever guess. Out of the blue Jayden shows up to stir things up while Helen and Nikola get close to cracking the 3-D city. A/U Please Read and Review!
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Jayden is a lion abnormal with a link to Helen that none of the Sanctuary crew would ever guess. Out of the blue Jayden shows up to stir things up while Helen and Nikola get close to cracking the 3-D city. A/U

Rating: T

Pairing: Helen/OFC Helen/John

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Sanctuary or the characters.

**THE LIONESS:**

The Sanctuary was quiet, a lot quieter than Helen liked it. She was almost waiting for something to jump out at her, it didn't matter what it was. For the last few days Helen and Nikola had been trying to unlock the secrets of the 3-D city her father had left her. They had gotten as far as generating an atlas of Hollow Earth. That alone amazed her, but since then they hadn't made any head way or unlocked any more secrets. For now Helen was back to the normal routine of finding Abnormals that needed her help or protection and bringing them here. When Helen walked into her office she was unprepared for the sight that greeted her eyes. There behind her desk was the face of a beautiful lioness that she had seen in there years. "Jayden?" She asked, even though she knew who it was. Jayden was lounged casually in Helen's chair with her feet on her desk. As much as it would have irritated her, it didn't. This was Jayden and Helen was almost incapable of being angry at the lioness.

"Hi," Jayden answered waving at Helen. She rose from behind the desk and with fluid grace sauntered over to Magnus. It was good to be back in familiar territory where she could be her usual playful self. "I've missed you." She purred before putting her face close, so close to Helen's. It looked as if Jayden was going to kiss her.

"Oh my God,"

Helen turned to see Nikola standing in her office door way with a shocked expression on his face. It was almost comical. So that's why Jayden had leaned in. She had heard Nikola approaching. Helen looked back at Jayden, "You are so not funny." But Helen was finding it hard getting mad at the lioness standing in front of her.

Jayden purred while smiling a broad happy smile at her, "Yes I am and you know it…. Baby," Jayden said with emphasis. She laughed at the look on the guy's face who was staring at Helen. "As much as teasing you appeals to me at the moment, that's not why I'm here."

"I'm first Goldie Locks," Nikola protested. "Helen, I made a break through on the map." Helen wasn't real fond of him tinkering with the 3-D city on his own since he triggered that EM pulse and the defense scan.

"First, Goldie locks was with three stinky bears. I am a lion; queen of the jungle. I get to talk to Helen first because I'm cuter." Jayden stated smugly. If it wasn't unsatisfying she would have hissed at the man standing before her.

Helen wanted to run her hands through her hair and just leave, but if she left then Nikola would provoke Jayden and end up getting hurt. As much as it would be his fault Helen wouldn't get away guilt free if Nikola was injured at the hands of her lioness. "Jayden, we can talk later about what you found. Right now, this map…"

"I like maps." Jayden smiled again. She just wanted to be near Helen. And granted her information could wait. The temple wasn't going to disappear, not when her Lion cousins were guarding it like it was sacred. Jayden rocked back and forth on her heals and waited for Helen to continue.

"You actually want to see this 3-D city?" Helen asked. She was skeptical, but Jayden never said anything she didn't mean.

"Exactly," Jayden stated.

"Come on." Helen turned to Nikola and said, "Show me what you found."

Nikola motioned for Helen to head out of her office and back to the library. He was about to walk beside her when the lioness darted past him and over to Helen. Nikola was left walking behind them. It gave him time to study the lioness though. She was encased in all leather. The pants she wore seemed as if they were painted on and then all of a sudden there was the hard, firm leather of her boots. Then there was the long leather of her trench coat. The style of the coat vaguely reminded him of the coat that Helen had and of the one that Druitt wore on occasion.

Nikola let his gaze track up her back to the golden mane of hair this Jayden had. It wasn't a true golden, but it had brown and black mixed in. She truly was a lion in every way, from the way she walked to the way she talked. 'If you could teach a lion to speak English you still wouldn't understand it.' A phrase Helen had used popped into his head. She had meant it as a metaphor for the abnormals in the way they thought, but the same applied to Jayden. She was truly the embodiment of the phrase.

Helen tried to ignore the happy felling she had with Jayden standing next to her. It was almost like having John back with her. She didn't want to admit it at first but the very way Jayden acted, the way she walked, the way she looked at Helen reminded her of all the things John would do. Helen shook her head and walked into the library and was immediately hit with the scanner from the map again. Instantly Nikola was there with the EM shield to make them disappear. Jayden was the only one not protected. The scanner settled on her.

"Oh, hello, what is it doing?" Jayden held up her hands out of instinct while this pale blue/green light scanned her. It wasn't the weirdest thing to happen to her.

"It's scanning you kitten." Nikola said with sarcasm. He would have thought she would have read as something else, but two symbols popped up for her. One was the red symbol for 'Blood Demon' and the other was one he didn't know; it was a pale gold. Everything involving this girl seemed to have something to do with gold.

"This is interesting." Helen mused. She would have thought the 3-D city would have gone back to the bomb stage, but it didn't. It only unfolded another layer of the puzzle. "Jayden what did you do?"

"I don't know," Jayden answered and shrugged. "I was just standing here."

"Isn't anyone going to ask why she was marked as a blood demon?" Nikola inquired.

"Easy," Jayden looked at him. "The vampires made my people using their own blood." She turned back just as the scanner shut off and left her alone. Helen came up next to her, but stared at the city.

Helen saw the same symbol that was oscillating around Jayden marked on one of the sky scrapers. "Jayden go and touch that symbol over there."

"You go and touch it." Jayden shot back. As much as this city was cool and amazing something about it set the fur on the back of her neck on end.

"Just go." Helen ordered. She then reached up and scratched her nails behind Jayden's left ear. When Jayden was in lion form it was a spot that she loved to have scratched; all cats did. She smiled when Jayden purred.

"I hate it when you do that." Jayden groused as Helen chuckled. But she relented walking over to the model of the sky scraper to touch the symbol. She tentatively reached out and just at the last second she pulled her hand back saying, "We don't know what could happen. It might blow up."

"Been there…" Helen started.

"Done that…" Nikola finished.

"Oh," Jayden mewed. Again, she reached out and lightly tapped the symbol. The city disappeared and then turned into the wide open Serengeti where she had found that supposed vampire temple. Maybe that wasn't what it was at all. "I know this place." Jayden turned to Helen.

"How?" Nikola and Helen asked in unison.

Jayden laughed at that before answering, "Because I was there."

**TWO HOURS LATER:**

Jayden had finally given up in the library and went to take a nap in Helen's room. When ever she had been at the Sanctuary she always got to stay with Helen for the simple fact that when she slept she had a tendency to revert to her lioness form and that spooked people who inadvertently walked into the room she would be sleeping in. And plus no one wanted to walk into the bosses bedroom.

Human lions were naturally deceptive and gave of the air of being lazy and playful and they loved to curl up and take a nap whenever possible. Jayden was no different. She had been asleep for no more than an hour and a half when she heard a loud bang. It woke her out of a sound sleep and made her quickly change back half way to a human. Running to the library Jayden saw Helen and Nikola waving smoke away and coughing. "What did you do?"

"Nikola touched the wrong button." Helen coughed. This was the least of their worries. This time they had gotten lucky and hadn't set off another security measure.

"It wasn't…" Nikola trailed off when he looked at the doorway. There stood Jayden in black underwear and a black camisole. Her state of undress wasn't what fazed him, it was the fact that she had a tail twitching back and forth, deadly looking claws gracing her fingers and toes, and lion like ears poking out through her extremely golden hair. "Whoa…" Nikola breathed out. If any creature could look beautiful with lion like ears and a tail it would be Jayden.

"Oh Nikola," Helen sighed going over to Jayden. She looked over her young lioness and noted all the new features that had caught Nikola's eye. It wasn't anything Helen hadn't seen before. "You don't revert to human for as quickly anymore do you?" she brushed strands of tan hair out of Jayden's face feeling the fur that still lingered on her face. If the fur was on her face then it would be on the rest of her body as well. Looking Jayden over again Helen noted that she looked a lot more tan than when she had gone for that cat nap earlier.

"No," Jayden purred. Her voice sounded deeper and more lion like. "It's harder to go back to full human now that I'm older." On impulse she rubbed her cheek over Helen's breathing in her calming scent that was dripping with smoke. More than anything it was the contact of skin that she craved

"This is older?" Nikola scoffed. To his eyes she was nothing more than a child.

"My people don't live past 35." Jaden growled. "We have the vampires to thank for that. If they hadn't been screwing around with DNA…"

"All right," Helen covered Jayden's mouth and looked to Nikola. At least he had the good sense to feign remorse. "Jayden, you should go back to bed." She smoothed down the ruffled hair on Jayden's head.

"I would sleep better if you were with me." Jayden leaned over and rested her head on Helen's shoulder. There was a lot less pain in her dreams when she knew Helen was only inches from her.

"Jayden…" Helen drew out her name. The idea appealed to her and she was a bit tired from staring at the 3-D city. Looking back to all the smoke still lingering Helen said, "Just a few hours, and then the smoke should be cleared away. Nikola…."

"I know, don't mess with it. I'm not going to hang around with all of this smoke. I like my lungs working." He coughed walking past them and out of the library doors. Smoke inhalation was not one of the things he had on his list of activities to participate in today.

Jayden watched Nikola go and felt a slight pang of guilt for having inadvertently chased him away. He was Helen's friend after all and he had been her friend for well over one hundred years. And yet she sensed that something else was going on with him entirely. "Why is he here?" Jayden asked.

"Nikola has no where to go at the moment. He's like a nine year old who needs constant supervision." Helen commented as she watched Nikola walk down the hall and turn the corner.

"Then why keep him here?" Jayden asked taking Helen's hand and leaded her back in the opposite direction.

"This is a Sanctuary and he's my friend." Helen answered squeezing Jayden's hand in hers. Nikola may cause trouble, may be a self serving egotistical maniac, but he kept things interesting even when she was furious at him.

**HELEN'S BEDROOM**

**LATER THAT NIGHT:**

Despite telling Jayden that she could only spend a few hours with her Helen had stayed in her room until the sun sank below the horizon. Jayden was sleeping soundly in her lioness form curled up around Helen's legs as Helen read one of the books she had pulled off the shelf with Sumerian translations. It was the deep rumbling purr that kept Helen on the bed with the slumbering Jayden. There was something so comforting about the sound and the feel of it. Helen hadn't realized that she was nodding off into sleep until someone lightly rapt at her door. "Come in." She cleared her throat and saw her friend and protégé walk through the door.

Will had just gotten back from England with Henry and he wanted to repost to Magnus. First place he had gone to was the Library but neither Magnus nor the Magnet was there. All that was there was the 3-D city and the linger small of smoke. Second he had checked her office, and again no Magnus. It wasn't until he was headed back to the residential quarters that he saw the big guy and asked if he knew where Magnus was. So now he was knocking on his boss's bedroom door hoping beyond hope that she wasn't asleep. He heard her say come in. Will opened the door to see Magnus leaning against the headrest with a lion curled over her legs. "Whoa…. That's a lion." Will exclaimed. The lion moved and looked at him. If Lions could glare than this one glared at Will. He took a step back in anticipation of running out the door.

"Will, she's perfectly harmless." Helen smiled slightly at the expression on Will's face.

"Yeah," Will scoffed, "To you maybe." His idea of harmless vastly differed from the definition Magnus must have. Seeing a lion curled up on a bed was not what he would call harmless.

Helen scratched Jayden behind the ears and said, "Maybe you should revert to human form." Jayden looked at her out of golden eyes. She knew her lioness would much rather stay on the bed, curled around her, but Will had to see another aspect of the abnormal world. "Please." Helen added. Jayden actually rolled her eyes. She rose to all fours and jumped off the left side of the bed with Helen pulling the curtain. With the lights on a shadow was cast on the curtains of a lion form melting into that of a human with the sickening cracking sounds of bones braking and tendons snapping and reforming the human shape.

Will was transfixed. He had never seen anything like it before; except for Henry this past week in London. The silhouette was that of a young woman, a beautiful young woman. She bent down to pull on a pair of shorts or what he thought was shorts. The girl poked her head around the curtain and asked, "Where's my shirt? I took it off and threw it somewhere." Will had the bad luck to spot it on the bottom bed post. He grabbed it, walking around the bed to hand it to her. She smiled and slipped on the camisole.

Jayden would have rather stay in her lioness form, sleep more, and just, well, sleep. But the man that came through the door was another friend of Helen's so she had to be some what of a human. Behind the curtain she pulled on her black underwear and then the camisole that the guy handed her. She stepped from behind the curtain with her tail swishing. At least this time she had managed to reform her human ears, human nails, but the tail remained. Jayden sat down on the bed Indian style and smiled and pleasant smile at the new person. "Hi."

"Hi," Will repeated. She was not the strangest creature to walk these halls, but she was the strangest one that he had seen his boss so at ease with.

"Will Zimmerman, this is Jayden." Helen slid off the left side of the bed and walked to stand by Will's side. Jayden for her part stayed on the bed and watched Will with her curious golden eyes. If she looked fully human then her eyes would be a vivid blue green that reminded someone of the ocean.

"He smells like a dog." Jayden stated. More than that Will smelled like a werewolf or lycan as some of them like to be called.

"Jayden!" Helen chided.

"No, she's right. Though, I would have thought a shower, or three, would have taken care of the smell." Will joked.

"So, the Sanctuary holiday paid off?" Helen asked momentarily ignoring Jayden. As much as she loved the lioness sometimes she could be rude.

"Yeah, Henry knows that he isn't the only one anymore." Will answered but kept his eyes on the young girl sitting on Magnus's bed. It was odd enough to see how Tesla followed her around like a puppy, but to see a woman with his boss. It just painted a whole new picture of Helen Magnus in his head. "What about…."

"We unlocked the map and found a starting point in Africa." Helen answered trying not to look at Jayden still sitting patiently on the bed.

"And…" Will motioned to Jayden.

"Jayden is part of that starting point or at least what we hope is a starting point." Helen nearly laughed at the confused and bewildered look on Will's face. Jayden had that effect on most people.

"She's a HAP isn't she?" Will asked looking at Jayden's twitching tail.

"I prefer lion. It's easier and it doesn't make you sound like a dork." Jayden chimed in from her spot on the bed.

"Do you not know how to be polite?" Helen exclaimed. At this moment she wasn't sure who was worse when it came to manners; Jayden or Nikola.

"No," Jayden shook her head. "My shut-up filter overloaded last year." She smiled. "Besides, I'm old, leave me alone. Old people can say what they want."

Will scoffed. "I'm sorry, old? You look twenty-seven."

Jayden looked away. She had finally accepted the fact that she was going to die at 35. Being reminded how old she was just made things harder on her, "I'm hungry. I'm gonna go and get something to eat." Jayden bolted off the bed and was out of the room before the others could say anything.

Will watched her run and felt confused, "Did I say something wrong?"

Helen felt her heart ache for Jayden. "Her people don't live past 35 years old. The vampires created her people and shortened their life span considerably in the process. As the lion/human hybrids get closer to 35 they lose the ability to revert fully to their human form." Helen informed. "You should have seen her earlier; she had the tail, lion ears, and claws. She looked cute." Helen smiled. Jayden was one of the more unique creatures she had come across, had fallen in love with, over her long years. Her lioness never ceased to amaze her. But for Jayden to show up now meant that she had more information or a hidden agenda that she wasn't ready to implement just yet. Helen had never met a lion with more resolve to stay alive than Jayden had. Helen would welcome the knowledge that she would die one day. But for her, that was not to be.

"You think she's cute." Will asked watching Magnus watching the hall.

"Yes. Why? Don't you?" Magnus questioned. She knew how her answered had sounded. When it all boiled down, Helen was one complex creature.

**THE KITCHEN:**

Jayden had gotten away from the talk of her impending death as fast as she could. It made her agitated when she had to actively lie to Helen. She hadn't been in Africa for the last two years by chance. She had been looking for that temple. In it Jayden thought that there might be a way to extend her life, prolong the life of all her people. It was the mission her alpha had entrusted her with and when she had gone as far as she could Jayden came to Helen. She trusted one woman in all the world. Helen was the one woman Jayden loved beyond reproach; the one woman she trusted with her life. Helen Magnus owned her loyalty.

Turning the corner Jayden walked into the giant state of the art kitchen, immediately heading over to the fridge. She opened the door and spied a vast arrangement of food. There were so many tasty treats that she didn't know which one to chose. While she was thinking her tail swished back and forth or it curled and uncurled over her thigh. She tried to let her mind go blank and just decide but there was nothing that just jumped out at her. It was irritating.

Minutes ticked by and still she hadn't chosen anything when the fine hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Someone was watching her. Jayden didn't turn around right off. She just waited. "Whoa…" this time it was two people watching her. Jayden turned and saw two people; a man and woman watching her. The scent of the woman was normal, human. But the man smelled like a lycan. He was the werewolf.

"What is it about me that make people go 'whoa'?" Jayden asked closing the door to the fridge.

"It could be the fact that you have a tail…" The man spoke pointing at her tail.

"Or the fact that you barely have clothes on." The woman motioned.

"Oh," Jayden looked down at herself. There was nothing wrong with what she was wearing. Lions didn't like a lot of clothing. It made the shift harder.

"Jayden, there you are." Magnus appeared next to Henry and Kate. She had heard the exchange from up the hall. "Henry, Kate, this is Jayden. She's going to be staying for a while." Helen mentioned

"Did you miss me?" Jayden purred playfully and completely ignored the introduction. She leaned back against the counter causing he camisole to ride up her flat stomach. It was a bit slutty on her part but she didn't care. Jayden liked to tease Helen every now and then.

Helen scowled at her before she tossed Jayden a pair of her leather pants. "Put these on." She ordered and held up her index finger when she saw that Jayden was going to protest. "Please, I want to show you something, and it requires pants." Turning to the others she whispered, "Could you give us a minute?"

Henry turned back to Jayden, "Wait, I remember you. You and Ashley used to play together."

"Yeah, we did," Jayden smiled at the mention her childhood friend. She made an effort to bite her tongue at what was about to come out of her mouth next. Jayden had almost said, 'But now I just play with her mom.' Helen was right, she was getting rude.

"Let's go Hank," Kate muttered and looked at the girl one more time before pulling Henry out of the door and up the hall with her. She wanted to hear all about his trip to England and finding more werewolves like him.

**NORTH TOWER:**

Jayden had pulled on the leather pants and tried to keep her tail from twitching too much. She had a bad feeling of why she was up here with Helen. To her credit she actually kept silent and let Magnus start the conversation. Jayden knew that she wasn't going to chide her about he teasing, she was a born teaser; no it was about something else. She could only hope that Helen didn't ask about the structure in Africa.

Helen knew the effort it took for Jayden to be silent and she appreciated it. It allowed her time to order her thoughts. She knew without a shadow of a doubt why Jayden had come to her Sanctuary, but she needed confirmation. "John sent you, didn't he?" Helen asked.

"I…" Jayden started to lie.

"Don't lie to protect your uncle." Helen rounded on Jayden. "He sent you to me all those years ago didn't he?" Jayden jumped with the ferocity of the accusation in Helen's voice. John had once told her of the lion abnormal that his father had married and of the half sister that he had. Jayden was the descendant of John's half sister Kara.

"Yes," Jayden whispered. John had told her that Helen wouldn't find out. She barely looked like John Druitt, Jayden only carried the name and half the time she didn't even use her last name. She was only Jayden, like Cher or Madonna.

"Why?" Helen asked making her voice gentler. It wasn't Jayden that she was mad at.

"He only wanted me to look out for you, look out for Ashley." Jayden moved to the edge looking out at the night scene of the city. "Even though I was only six, I could still kill, maim, who ever tried to hurt you. He wanted me as companion to Ashley; her fierce lioness, but you settled on me instead." She looked at Helen. Jayden felt horrid for having failed her uncle, but she also felt better knowing that Helen knew. "I was meant to be Ashley's. I was meant to be her friend, her body guard."

"I want you to find John." Helen ordered as she digested this new revelation about John. Maybe he wasn't as completely insane as she thought. But Helen knew better, she hoped better. John had that energy creature inside of him. Helen hoped that thing was the soul reason for her lover turning against her.

"But I…"

"I know you know where he is." Helen made Jayden look at her. "Bring him to me. I'll need his help."

"But…" Jayden was told never to go looking for her uncle, that he would come to her. Now Helen was ordering her to find him. What was she to do? She was Helen's lioness, but she was John's niece.

"Be my lioness and bring him here." Helen cupped Jayden's face running her right thumb over Jayden's lower lip. She knew she was playing Jayden's loyalty to her against the loyalty she had to her uncle.

Jayden pulled away heading to the door. She stopped, turned back to Helen, and whispered, "I'm sorry." Jayden kissed Helen's cheek before she ran for the stairs that would take her to the ground floor and out of the Sanctuary.

Helen leaned against the stone of the tower and let out a shaky breath. The more she found out about John the more she had to rethink his current state of mind. Twenty-one years ago he sent his six year old niece to her door with the mission to protect her and her daughter. Why would John do that back then? Back then John had been her enemy as well as the man she loved; the father of her child. Helen didn't doubt his love for her but John was just too dangerous to keep around; the creature inside of him made him dangerous. Only this time Helen was actively seeking him out. She only hoped that it didn't back fire on her.


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: Jayden is a lion abnormal with a link to Helen that none of the Sanctuary crew would ever guess. Out of the blue Jayden shows up to stir things up while Helen and Nikola get close to cracking the 3-D city. A/U

Rating: T

Pairing: Helen/OFC Helen/John

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Sanctuary or the characters.

**THE LIONESS:**

Jayden slipped in and out of the shadows on the way to where her uncle was. She didn't want to be going to him; it made her feel ill. But Helen ordered her to go, so she had to do it. Moving around a corner Jayden saw three street hoods lingering on the next corner. Before she could duck back into the shadows they saw her. A fight was not what she needed. Putting her back to the wall Jaden felt her tail twitch at the way the hoods surrounded her. She growled deep and deadly in her throat hoping that it was going to make them go away. Like she thought, they just kept moving towards her. Helen hadn't told her to engage in a fight, but she was going to have to if she was going to get to her uncle.

To her left one of the thugs pulled out a knife; it was going to get ugly if they decided to use it. Jayden felt her tail twitch and he claws lengthen. She had to remember not to kill any of them. That would disappoint Helen and Jayden couldn't disappoint her. Moving slightly to her right she tried to get into a more defensible position. But the other two blocked Jayden's path. They all looked at her like she was a piece of meat, an object. She was a lioness and she was a fierce killer. The one thing that kept her from attacking them was Helen. She had only sent Jayden after her uncle. Beating up three street rats would not garner her any extra points.

"Look at this," The thugs to Jayden's right grabbed her tail and tugged.

"Ahh…" Jayden screamed. Her tail wasn't something that was meant to be yanked on.

"She looks to be one of those freaks you hear stories about." Another one laughed; it was the one with the knife.

Jayden sucked in a breath when she felt the steel of the knife slide up her tail, cutting the skin. She wanted to scream, but she wasn't one to do that. With one motion she grabs the thug with the knife, twists his wrist, and hears the bones break. The one to Jayden's right pulls out his knife and slashes across her cheek. She dropped to her knees and growled. Jayden had to get up, but the third thug kicked her really hard in the ribs. There was a crack.

When Jayden thought another kick was coming the man was pulled away from her and slammed into the nearest wall. Looking up she saw the one man she had come to see; her uncle. John Druitt looked down at her before he scared the other two thugs away. Jayden coughed, her ribs hurt too much, and she could smell the blood running down her cheek and dripping from the wound on her tail. "I had…." She wheezed. "No choice."

John had seen the three thugs head into the ally, even though it was dark. He teleported down to the street from the roof he was standing on to see what they were up to. And there, up against the wall, was Jayden. She had her claws extended but she hadn't killed any of them. Helen much have sent her on retrieval only and told not to engage in a fight. Jayden always did follow Helen's words to the letter.

He saw them cut her tail, cut her cheek, and kick her in the ribs. It was enough. He had to get into the fray to protect her since she wasn't going to fight back. She was the last link he had to his sister. A few seconds later two of the thugs ran off while the third thug that had kicked Jayden lay unconscious. Turning to her now, John crouched down and ran his knuckled over the wound on her cheek. She said she had no choice and John knew that to be true. "I know," He whispered running his fingertips down the side of her right cheek. John wasn't mad that she came to find him. He knew she would have sooner or later.

Jayden wanted to whimper. Her tail hurt, her side hurt, and her cheek burned. But seeing her uncle crouched down in front of her made the pain less. "My tail hurts." Jayden finally said after a few minutes. She should have engaged the thugs, left them in the ally, and gotten on with her day. 'Helen didn't tell you to fight.' Her mind said. It was true. Helen only sent her after her uncle.

John smiled slightly. Jayden always had an odd way of communicating. "Do you want me to carry you?" John asked. Looking at Jayden he could see so much of Kara in her. It was almost like having his half sister back. Kara trusted him above all others. She had entrusted her children to him when she couldn't protect them anymore, when death had come for her. Jayden was the last of his family. Jayden was precious to him, to his sanity.

Jayden thought about letting her uncle carry her, but she thought better of it. It would be pure weakness if she gave in and let him carry her. She was a lion and lions were not weak. Holding out her hand to him she just wanted to stand. Maybe if she stood then the pain wouldn't be as bad. Her uncle cupped the back of her head and before she could protest, he teleported them back to the Sanctuary. She hated when he did that, the whole feeling of it made her sick to her stomach. Jayden looked around and saw Helen talking with Will.

"Helen," John said gaining her attention further. He knew Jayden hated when he used his power on her, but she was hurt and had to be taken to the Sanctuary right away. "She needs help."

Helen heard the sound that could only mean one person had come back; John Druitt. She turned to see him crouched next to Jayden and Jayden was bleeding. "What did you do to her?" Helen rushed to Jayden.

"I'm going to ignore that question until Jayden is out of the room." John growled. He should have known. Helen only thought of him as a monster and she would always think of him as a monster. But how could she not. That was all he showed her, the monster inside of him.

"Please don't argue," Jayden whined. "_MY_ tail hurts." If they were going to argue or scream or whatever they did, Jayden would prefer to be out of the room lest she was forced to chose a side. If that happened then she would have to chose Helen and fight her own uncle; the man who kept her from death when hunters had tried to kill her and her brothers.

Helen pulled Jayden closer to her and away from John so she could look closer at the wounds. The bleeding had slowed, nearly stopping, a little while longer and it would be stopped. "What happened to you?" Helen asked stroking Jayden's cheek.

"I was going to find…" Jayden looked at Will and then back to Helen. "John, like you asked, and these three hood rats cornered me. You never said I could engage in combat so I tried to avoid them." Jayden leaned her head on Helen's thigh and whimpered again. The pain in her tail had gone to a throb.

Helen turned to look at Will, "Can you take her to my room?" To Jayden she whispered, "I want you to wait in my room and I'll tend to you there." She looked at John and growled, "You stay here where we can talk."

Jayden knew better to argue and she didn't want Helen to be mad at her anymore. Better to court favor then discord with Helen Magnus. So, Jayden got to her feet with the aide of her uncle and walked out of the office with the gentle hand of the protégé. It was just better to listen to her. Together, Will and Jayden made it to the bedroom of Helen Magnus and that was where she and Will would part company. "Thanks Will, I can hobble in the door myself." Will didn't move from her side

"Are you sure you'll be fine?" Will asked. Jayden was wavering on her feet, but at least her bleeding had stopped. To his eyes she didn't look 100%. It looked as if any minute she would collapse.

"I'm fine. All I need is Helen to patch me up." Jayden smiled before she slipped through the open door. Right now she just wanted to be alone and think of all the ways she could make up for lying. She shut the door and walked over to the closet where a set of black sheets were stored. Jayden picked up one sheet taking it over to the bed where she started to take off her dirty clothes. First she peeled the camisole over her head and dropped it by the edge of the bed. Then, moving her fingers very carefully she untied the laces of her leather pants before she slid them down her legs and gently pulled her tail through. Her wounds had stopped bleeding but her ribs still hurt.

Jayden reached for the black sheet where she wrapped it around her torso. The soft silk whispered over her skin and she moaned from just the feel of it. Going to stand at the window Jayden waited for Helen. Though, with how mad she sounded she was going to be waiting a while. She knew that when Helen and her uncle got in the same room then ended up arguing or fighting. Right now Jayden hoped Helen and John were yelling at each other.

**HELEN'S OFFICE:**

Helen watched Will and Jayden leave her office and she waited for the door to close behind them. The soft click let her know that it was now safe to yell at John. "How dare you do that Jayden!" Helen shouted.

"I would never hurt her. She is the last link I have to Kara!" John shouted in return. He shouldn't be shouting at Helen. Jayden needed help but now all Helen wanted to do was shout and rage at him. It galled him that she could think that he would hurt Jayden. The creature inside of him recognized Jayden as a predator and wouldn't dream to hurt her. John was grateful for this.

Helen felt her anger flee at the mention of Kara, John's half sister who was all lion and dead. "Why would you send her to me then?" For John to mention Kara was opening a can of worms. When she died John had lost all meaning of the word 'happiness' and Helen had spent two years trying to heal the wound his sister had left in his heart.

"I sent her to Ashley. Jayden was meant for Ashley, as her companion, her best friend." John turned away and stalked to the window. He looked out at the city and tried to quell his rising temper. The creature inside of him fed off of the anger, off of the hate.

"Jayden said the same thing. Why?" Helen asked. She more than wanted to understand why Jayden was meant for Ashley. What was so important about Jayden being with Ashley?

"Kara was my best friend, besides you and James I could tell her anything. Yes, I was years older than her, but to her, I was her everything. I was the reason…" John stopped and cleared his throat. "Jayden was to see Ashley in the same way. It would give her a reason to fight, to live. But seeing Jayden now," John looked back at Helen, "She see's you as her everything. Jayden looks at you the way I used to look at you. She loves you."

"I love her… in my own way." Helen said for lack of anything else. In John's eyes she saw that old pain surface. It was the same pain she had seen in Jayden's eyes many times before. She knew the reason for it in John's eyes but what could have happened to Jayden to make her lioness so sad?

"I should go," John said suddenly. If Helen needed him then she would call for his aide or she might just send Jayden again. Any more time together and John might end up hurting Helen again and he didn't want that. He knew she could see the pain he still carried over Kara's death lingering in his eyes and he didn't want her to see it.

"No, John, you can stay. I just get so defensive when I see Jayden injured." Her response was what it used to be when Ashley was hurt. But with Jayden it just felt a little more personal these days. Instead of saying anything else Helen left her office. She couldn't think of anything else to say to him about Jayden. More than anything she could stand to see the pain in his eyes. She didn't have the energy to fight the urge to go to him, to hold him, and to tell him that it would all be all right.

**HELEN'S BEDROOM:**

Helen opened the door of her bedroom to see Jayden standing by the window's encased in a black silk sheet. Despite the gold of her hair and the tan of her skin Jayden looked amazing in black. It only served to make Jayden glow. Waking to her, Helen said nothing. Helen wanted to console Jayden, tell her that there was nothing wrong between them. Jayden had only done what john had asked her to do. She was his family, the only family he had left. As much as Helen wanted to get angry about that, she had no right.

Jayden didn't move, didn't react to Helen walking to her. She wanted to turn, to say she was sorry for lying. She wanted to try and make things right. But she didn't know where to start. What could she say? Simple, there was nothing she could say. Jayden would have to wait for Helen to start speaking.

Helen reached out, ran her fingertips lightly down Jayden's bare back. She didn't miss the slight flinch. "Jayden, I'm not mad at you." Helen wasn't mad at her, she was mad at John for having put his only niece in a situation such as this.

"Could have fooled me," Jayden responded, her voice small and quiet.

"I'm angry at John, not at you. There is no power in the world that would make me stay angry at you." Helen soothed running her hand up and down Jayden's back. She knew that the skin to skin contact would make the lioness inside of her Jayden calm.

"I would be mad at me if I were you." Jayden said turning to Helen. She still felt wretched for lying, well, for having her lie found out.

"Except, you're not me, and I'm not mad at you." Helen cupped Jayden's face and smiled at her. She gently ran her thumb over the cut.

Jayden winced at the slight touch to the cut on her left cheek. It had stopped throbbing, or at least she thought it had. "My tail still hurts."

"Tell you what, let me change, and then I'll bandage your tail and clean the cut on your cheek." Helen leaned in and kissed Jayden's forehead. She nodded and bean to purr. Helen loved the sound of Jayden's deep rumbling purr.

Jayden stayed by the window as Helen headed towards the wardrobe. She could either watch Helen change from work clothes to the pair of shorts and oversized button up shirt she wore, or Jayden could turn back to the window and watch the night. Jayden opted to watch the night. Outside the window she could see the lights of New City reflecting on the water of the river that separated the Sanctuary from the normal world. She didn't understand what was so great about that normal world. What was so great about being normal? Being normal was lacking the courage to do something fun. Jayden, by definition, was not normal and she loved it.

"Jayden," Helen changed quickly, grabbed what she needed to tend to Jayden, and settled herself in the center of her bed. She would have thought Jayden would have come to her quickly, but her lioness seemed transfixed by the city.

Jayden turned to face the bed, a smile coming to her face. Helen sat in the center of the bed gently patting the covers like she was a small house cat, coaxing her to the bed. It made Jayden smile. "What am I a house cat?" She scrunched up her nose.

Helen laughed, "You're my house cat. Now get over here." She marveled at how fluid and graceful Jayden could be when she walked. Her lioness stopped just at the edge of the bed so she could gather the black sheet up in her arms before she slid onto the bed and stretched out on her stomach with her tail snaking out. Helen had to reposition herself to have easy access to the wound on Jayden's tail. "Oh you poor thing." She muttered upon seeing the clean slice up Jayden's tail.

"Who cut's someone's tail? Honestly, who does that?" Jayden exclaimed. Her tail twitched when Helen touched a barely healed part, "Ow!" She twitched her tail out of Helen's gentle grasp.

"I barely touched you," Helen sighed. The wound on her tail had already started to heal. As soon as she shifted to her base lion form the wound would be gone completely. Helen just wanted to clean the blood off. That simple task was proving difficult. Jayden kept twitching her tail. "This would work better if you stopped twitching."

"Sorry," Jayden muttered and made a concentrated effort to stop her tail from twitching.

Helen finished cleaning off the blood and was pleased when she saw the wound had almost healed completely. "Sit up and let me clean the blood off of your cheek." Jayden didn't move, she just stayed where she was. Helen nudged her in the side gently and still Jayden didn't move. "I know you're not asleep. If you were sleeping you would be a lion." Helen said. "And you would be impossible to move." She muttered.

Jayden rolled over to her back and smiled at Helen. She was feeling better by the minute just being surrounded by the unique scent that was Helen Magnus. This was truly all Jayden understood most days. It was all she wanted to understand. For her, right now, this life made sense. Helen made sense to her and it was a life that she wanted more than anything. She wanted to be with Helen forever. Was that how her uncle felt? Was this how much he loved her? "How much does my uncle love you?" Jayden asked before she could think better of it.

"For all eternity." Helen answered on impulse. As much as those words pleased Helen, they broke her heart at the same time. To remember the love she and John had shared made her want to cry. He had been the love of her life and now here she was sharing her bed with yet another Druitt and his niece no less. "We should sleep." Helen said suddenly, drastically changing the mood. She didn't want to talk or think about what was going on.

"Ok, I'll be right back." Jayden muttered. She rolled off the bed and walked once again to the window. Using her considerable strength the lifted the heavy wooden frame to let some air into the room.

"Jayden it's going to get cold in here." Helen protested sliding beneath the covers. The breeze blew past her face and made her shiver.

Jayden turned to the bed, held out her arms, and smiled, "Living space heater right here." She motioned her hands up and down. Helen shook her head and rolled over on her side. Jayden dropped the black silk sheet and let her base form come through. Her bones broke, snapped; joints popped, and her tendons reformed her into that of the lioness she always was. Jayden hopped up to the bed and nudged Helen with her nose. Helen shifted marginally allowing Jayden to plop down. She snuggled up to Helen and went to sleep.

**THE NEXT MORNING:**

Nikola had gone to the Library to work on the 3-D city. He wanted to get a start on it rather than wait for Helen. Yes, he knew she told him to leave it alone, but Nikola never listened before. Why should he start now? Once he was in the library the scene before him had changed. Instead of the city it was the scene of the Serengeti with that temple smack dab in the center of it. Nikola worked for a few minutes trying to get the city to reset, but it was being stubborn. The only way to get it to work would be for Helen and that lion of hers to come back down here.

He set off for Helen's bedroom and just like before he walked right in. Helen was still asleep cuddled under the covers. But what held him in place was the deadly stare of the lioness crouched on her bed. Nikola was sure that if he moved the wrong way Jayden would maul him. "Helen?" Nikola muttered. "Helen now would be a good time to wake up and keep you lion from mauling me." Nikola said a little louder because he didn't dare to move. Helen only groaned, still in the grips of sleep. Jayden for her part still glared at him and now she was snarling at him showing off large canines that would sink right through his tender flesh. "Helen, I'm begging you to wake up." Normally he would have antagonized the lion, but today something told him not to. If he did then Jayden might as well attack him.

Helen opened her eyes and saw Nikola standing stock still while Jayden pinned him with a murderous stare that only lions could do. "That's what you get for just walking in." Helen sat up.

"Won't happen again," Nikola said quickly.

"Yes it will," Helen muttered. "Now, back out of the door very slowly and Jayden won't attack you." She instructed before curling up under the covers again to go back to sleep. Jayden had made her so warm last night that sleep had come easy and Helen was eager to fall back into it.

"You've got to be kidding me." Nikola groaned walking backwards keeping his gaze on Jayden. The Lioness growled at him just as he shut the door. Turning he breathed a deep sigh of relief. But that feeling of relief was quickly extinguished at the sight of John walking towards him.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you. Helen is still sleeping." Nikola put on an arrogant smile.

"Through nothing you did I'm sure." John said smugly. He knew Helen and knew her taste in men. Nikola was not it. For one thing Nikola was too arrogant. Helen preferred her men to see her as an equal, not someone to fawn over another's genius. Without breaking stride John opened Helen's door and walked inside.

John shut the door gently. He turned and there was Helen sound asleep again. She was on her side with one hand under her cheek and the blanket down around her waist. Even in sleep she was still so beautiful, but Helen was not the reason he was there. Jayden was settled next to Helen, but sat up when she saw him. He held his finger to his lips to indicate she should be silent and remain where she was. John measured his steps very carefully but Helen still heard him. He heard the tell tale click of the hammer sliding back. "Well this is familiar." John muttered turning to face her.

"I know there is no sign on my door that says, 'open for all just walk right in.'" Helen stated firmly aiming the gun at him. Though, she had an idea why he was there in the first place.

"Did you think that maybe it wasn't you I was coming to see?" John took on step closer and was intercepted by Jayden. She stood between him and Helen's gun barrel. Jayden was giving him a lions stare equivalent to, 'Grow Up.' He would have shaken his head if he was sure he knew what Jayden would do to him. Never wake a lion, especially when that lion was guarding Helen.

Jayden didn't want them to argue, it was too early in her lion morning for that. Jumping off the bed she went to her uncle. Grabbing the edge of his leather coat she tugged him roughly to the door and waited for him to open. She couldn't do everything. Once the door was open she nudged him out into the hall. After that she shut the door with her forehead before returning to the bed with Helen.

**LATER THAT AFTERNOON:**

**HELEN'S OFFICE**

Helen stood behind her desk trying to look imposing to the two men who stood opposite her. She was fed up with Nikola just barging in her room whenever he felt like it, and John had the bad luck to come in after one of Nikola's visits. "Gentlemen, let me lake this as monosyllabic as possible. The next time you feel the need to just walk in, please bear in mind that a 200lb lion will be on the other side and I may just let her maul you." Helen finished directing that last comment to Nikola.

"You wouldn't do that, not to me." Nikola stated, though, with the look in her eyes he wasn't so sure what Helen would and wouldn't do to him. He was on thin ice as it was from his little foray beneath the Andes Mountains looking for the Source Blood.

"You know Jayden will not maul me. But I will refrain from just walking in." John spoke and bowed his head in acknowledgement of Helen's warning. As a last thought he added, "I'm sorry, I should have knocked."

"Kiss ass." Nikola muttered.

"Ego maniac," John fired back.

"Enough!" Helen shouted.

The two men were about to say something in turn when Helen's door opened and in walked Jayden. As usual she was in her habitual black leather pants, tail twitching away, with knee high boots, and a blank tee that looked out of place on her. The t-shirt sported a Zombie with arms out stretched and the saying, 'Zombies are cool' above it. "Jayden tell me you're not going to keep that shirt on all day."

"Why?" Jayden asked looking down at her shirt with the Zombie on it. She picked up the hem and brought it to her nose. It smelled clean. She had just gotten it out of her duffle of clean clothes a few minutes ago. "It's clean."

"Zombies, Jayden." Helen said. She was remembering that little town out in the middle of nowhere that she, Ashley and Jayden had been in and the whole town had been turned into Zombies. Telling the story made it sound like a bad B movie horror flick that Will like to subject her to every now and then, but it had happened.

"Ok, that was not my fault. There should have been a warning label or something on that tomb thingy." Jayden plopped down to the couch and sighed. She hadn't meant to break the seal on the funky little statue or idol. It was pure accident.

"Jayden what would the warning label have looked like to you?" Helen asked and thought better of it. Knowing Jayden the way she did, her lioness would come back with some funny almost child like answer.

"It would have said, 'WARNING: May cause slight Zombie attacks.' That, in big bold letters would have translated in my weird brain as 'Do Not Touch.' But…" Jayden trailed off at the look Helen was giving her. She was trying not to smile. Something had been happening before Jayden had ambled in.

"Why do I even ask?" Helen muttered walking away from John and Nikola to stand in front of Jayden.

"Because you wanted to laugh," Jayden answered all serious. She stood up and rubbed her newly healed cheek over Helen's before leaving to go and change her shirt. "I'll go change that shows a little more skin." Jayden laughed. Helen hadn't heart to call her back and tell her to dress appropriately.

Helen watched her go and felt her heart swell. Her lioness knew her, just as John had known her. Jayden was like her uncle in every way that sometimes it scared her to even be close to Jayden. Her humor was odd at times, just as John's had been. Her smile was nearly the same as John's. Their laughs were identical. Only the eyes were different. Jayden's eyes reminded you of a Caribbean sea, the iridescent green blue. John's eyes were solid blue. Helen still loved to look into his eyes, but if she did for too long then she might get lost in him again. That was one thing she could not afford. Not now.

"You never smile like that anymore." John whispered close to her ear before he left as well. Once, along time ago, john held the power of that smile. He was the only one who could coax it out of her. But now that smile belonged to Jayden, just as it had belonged to Ashley, or him.

"Did you forget about me?" Nikola pouted.

"I'm sorry Nikola, you were being quiet, which unprecedented for you." Helen sniped. She wasn't in the mood for him today; she wasn't in the mood for John, for the 3-D city. All she wanted to do was roam around her house with Jayden. She just wanted to be with Jayden and remember all the good things she had once loved about John, still loved about him.


	3. Chapter 3

Summary: Jayden is a lion abnormal with a link to Helen that none of the Sanctuary crew would ever guess. Out of the blue Jayden shows up to stir things up while Helen and Nikola get close to cracking the 3-D city. A/U

Rating: T

Pairing: Helen/OFC Helen/John

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Sanctuary or the characters.

**THE LIONESS:**

Helen walked through the halls of her Sanctuary. The silence was comforting and deafening all at the same time. She had gone to her room to try and catch Jayden, but her lioness wasn't there. Only the Zombie shirt lying on the end of her bed tipped her off that Jayden had actually changed her shirt. Helen stood at one of the floor to ceiling windows looking out at the afternoon scene of her city. Every thing was shining in the sun; across the river it was all steel and glass. It all looked so blissfully normal. For one second Helen wanted to be one of the mundane normal people who only thought of working and then going home. She used to know normal, but all that changed with the Source Blood.

If she had had a normal life Ashley never would have been a casualty of the war the Cabal had started; the war Helen had finished.

"Hey!"

Helen heard Jayden and then felt her lioness's arms encircle her waist. "I looked for you in your office, but all I found was the ex-vampire pouting." Jayden chattered.

"Yes, well I think you hurt his delicate ego this morning when you scared him." Helen chuckled. She may have been half asleep but she still could hear the nervous tone of Nikola's voice. The one good thing about having Jayden back was she could keep them, Nikola and John, out of her room with the threat of a 200lb lion. Though, the threat was no good against John. Jayden would never attack her uncle.

"Should I apologize?" Jayden asked nuzzling Helen's neck. When they were alone she could indulge in just holding Helen. It wasn't anything having to do with sex; it was just the feeling of being held that comforted the lioness inside of her more than anything. Jayden preferred just to be held or when she was lioness she liked having her ears scratched. Helen had turned her into a house cat. That thought made her chuckle.

Helen smiled at the gesture. True to lion form Jayden loved to touch, it was security and comfort for her, but to another person it would look like an intimate moment. "No, he'll be fine. Nikola rolls with the punches. It's what makes him so arrogant."

"And you like that about him?" Jayden asked. She thought his arrogance was annoying.

"No, it's his brilliance I find fascinating." Helen answered turning her head to kiss Jayden's temple.

"He acts…" Jayden started.

"He acts as any scientist from the 19th century would." Helen unwrapped Jayden's arms from her waist, turning to her, "Yes, he is arrogant, egomaniacal, eccentric, a pain in the ass, irritating, double dealing, but he is still my friend." There was no defensive tone in Helen's voice. She was only stating facts. But more than that, she didn't want to be the only one from the Victorian era still alive. Though, as long as John still lived she would never be alone. Truly they were the immortals. And Helen had no doubt in her mind that Nikola would one day walk as a vampire; he was determined enough.

"Ok, then I'll try and behave. But if he calls me Goldie Locks on more time then I will bite him." Jayden stated drawing a smile from Helen. Suddenly Jayden went still looking out of the window.

Helen noticed the change in Jayden. "What is it?" She asked turning to scan the scene outside the window. Helen couldn't see anything but that didn't mean Jayden hadn't spotted something. "What do you see?"

"There is a void in the sun on the top of that building," Jayden pointed out the building.

"Are you sure?" Helen asked looking in the direction Jayden had pointed to, but she could see nothing.

"You're going to have to trust me." Jayden said a split second before the glass shattered. The resounding sound of gun fire rang in her ears. She pulled Helen with her into the alcove next to the window smelling blood. Looking to Helen she saw crimson spill over her arm and down her hand to drip off of her finger tips. "You're hit."

"I'm fine." Helen countered. "What could do this?" The best way to get Jayden to stop worrying was to engage her mind on the target.

"A high powered sniper riffle," Jayden answered automatically. She crouched and looked out the window again. Her eyes tried to pick out the void but it wasn't there. Whoever shot at them was gone. If it was her, then she would be gone to. Testing the theory Jayden stood up and stepped out into open view, and easy target. She waited for a minute, no gun fire, no movement that she could see from the spot she would peg as the snipers nest.

"All clear?" Helen asked from her spot in the alcove.

"All clear," Jayden confirmed offering Helen her hand. She tired not to let the smell of blood get to her. It was a siren's call to the animal inside of her.

Foot steps came down the hall; John, Will, and Nikola. "What happened?" John asked. He was the first to reach Helen. He left arm was bloody but she didn't let on she was in pain. At least she didn't flinch when he touched her.

"Sniper," Jayden said. Pointing to the building where she had seen the void. She kept her back to the others and scanned all the other roof tops to make sure that the sniper had moved to another location to try again

"Sniper? How could a sniper get a bead on Helen?" Nikola asked going to her other side tossing a glare at John.

"Jayden this isn't protecting her." John chided even though he knew that there was no way to account for a sniper taking aim at her from across the river.

"How was I to account for a sniper? I didn't even know she was getting death threats." Jayden defended.

"I'm not getting death threats." Helen said between clenched teeth. John had tied a black handkerchief around her arm to try and staunch the bleeding. "It must have something to do with the 3-D city. Someone must have found out we have it and unlocked it."

"We have to bandage this." John whispered to Helen. She looked at him and nodded taking his hand to stand up.

"Jayden, I want you to find the sniper, and bring them here." Helen ordered. She knew her lioness would not fail her.

A dangerous grin spread over Jayden's lips, "Your wish is my command." She started past Helen and her uncle when he stopped her. "Should his head be on a silver platter?"

"Alive Jayden or at least able to speak," Helen amended. Jayden would follow her order to the letter.

"Does he need to have all his teeth?" Jayden asked sarcastically. She was aching to deal out some punishment to the person who had made Helen bleed. She was sure her uncle felt the same way.

"You can't go alone." John protested. As much as he wanted to tend to Helen he wanted to protect Jayden more.

"Yes, I can. Lion." She pointed to herself. "Human." She pointed to her uncle. "I move faster than you do."

"Oh really?" John asked knowing that Jayden never counted his powers of teleportation.

"John, Jayden, I can get to the infirmary. Every second you stand here is one more second that sniper gets away." Helen took her hand out of John's and stood on her own two feet.

John wanted to protest but Helen would only argue more and she would turn out to be right like she usually does. He nodded taking Jayden's hand teleporting them to the building that his niece had indicated. The minute the materialized the blazing sun blinded him. That's what he gets for being a creature of night time activities.

Jayden hated when her uncle teleported, but it was faster then breaking the speed limit in a car. Opening her eyes she saw a clean line to the window Helen had been standing at. This was definitely the snipers nest. Near the ledge shell casings glinted in the sun light. Before she could go to them a scent caught her attention; it was a scent she knew.

"What is it?" John asked. He saw Jayden freeze.

"Banta…" Jayden whispered the name of her brother and the eldest of the triplets. Banta, Tristan, and Jayden were the last surviving members of John's lion family.

"You're brother shouldn't even be here. I told him to stay in…." John let the sentence drop. Banta had been the warrior of the group. He was the one who tried to keep all of them safe.

"Where has Banta been?" Jayden crouched down to the edge again to pick up the shell casing. Turning them over, she noticed the make and model of the bullet.

"I told him to stay in Bogotá." John sighed taking up position next to Jayden. It made no sense. Why would Banta be here? Why would he be shooting at Helen?

"Well, whoever hired him paid good money for the riffle and the ammo." Jayden had spent time studying assault riffles and all other manner of weapons. She and Ashley, when they were younger had had weapons training for the missions Helen went out on.

"What kind of ammunition?" John hated guns. He hated the sound, the smell; he hated everything about them since the day Helen had shot at him. Using a gun was the coward's way out. You wanted to kill someone you did it up close and personal.

"High grade sniper ammo," Jayden tipped the end of the cartridge up. "These are 308 Lapua rounds. Banta meant business, or whoever hired Banta. Why would they go after Helen?" Was this really over the holo-city? Or was it because of something else?

"Maybe that 3-D city she has. Or someone learned of the map." John theorized placing his hand on Jayden's back so he could teleport them back to the Sanctuary.

Shaking her head Jayden set off for the infirmary with her uncle by her side. She was still reeling from the fact that Banta was here, he was so close and he was trying to kill Helen. When she found her brother she was going to make him hurt for shooting Helen. "I swear when I get my paws on Banta…"

"You'll do nothing. Not until we find out why he's here." John ordered. "I told him to stay with Tristan." He was just as confused as Jayden was. Banta never worked for someone with out a reason or without an obscene amount of money. What could the price be to lead Banta away from Tristan who their brother needed Banta the most? How could he do that to him?

They were a few steps from the infirmary when the scent of blood hit Jayden again. She growled and clenched her jaw shut. No creature was immune to the scent of blood, not even fun loving playful Jayden. John put his hand on her back to try and calm her. He had been around Lions enough to know what the scent of blood did to them. "Jayden?"

"I'm fine. I'll be ok," She spoke quickly. Jayden had to remember that it was Helen. She had to focus and see Helen the person and not think of her as easy prey. Maybe she wasn't a gentle house cat after all. Taking a deep breath Jayden pushed past her uncle and walked into the infirmary with a fake smile plastered on her face. Immediately she walked to where Helen was having her arm bandaged. "We missed him by a few seconds." She said sitting on the edge of the gurney. It was an effort to keep her eyes off of Helen's wounded arm.

Helen didn't miss the forced nature of Jayden's smile. The smell of her blood was getting to her lioness. "Did you find anything else." Helen asked. It was best if she kept Jayden's mind engaged and off of he scent of her blood.

"Shell casings." Jayden answered pulling the cartridge out of her pocket. "It's a 308 Lapua round. They meant to kill you whoever _they_ are."

"Did you find anything else?" Helen asked and she didn't miss the way Jayden looked to John. "What did you find?"

"My brother, Banta, he was the one who shot at you." Jayden lowered her head and looked at the floor.

"Brother?" Helen asked not believing what Jayden had said.

"Jayden is the youngest of triplets." John answered. It was better that he bear the brunt of her anger rather than Jayden. "Banta, Tristan, and Jayden are the only three left that have any connection to Kara."

"Why would Banta try and kill me?" Helen asked. She looked at Jayden who refused to look at her. Suddenly she didn't want to sit, she wanted to move around. Yet another person had targeted her. What was so important about her?

"I wish I knew. But when I find him, I'll be sure to ask in between sessions of my fist hitting his face." Jayden growled. It grated on her nerves that Banta would dare shoot at Helen. He should know better. If she didn't get him then their uncle would.

"He is still your brother." John ran his hand down Jayden's back. For better or worse Jayden and Banta were siblings and if Jayden inflicted serious injury on her brother it would hurt her in return.

"Jayden, if you had to search for him, could you find him in the city?" Helen asked coming around the gurney to stand next to Jayden where she stood close to John.

"Probably, there would be a lot of scents to filter out. But knowing Banta he would make his way back to Old City to avoid the mass of people." Jayden explained. Her uncle had always told them to avoid humans when possible. They were never to be trusted because they feared abnormals too much. But living with Helen had taught her differently. Her Helen protected humans from the violence of the abnormal world.

**OLD CITY STREETS:**

Jayden had reluctantly agreed to take Henry, the werewolf, and the Big Guy. She would have preferred hunt for Banta on her own, but Helen insisted and her uncle had ordered her. It's not like she was going to kill her brother, she was only going to throw him a beat down for daring to shoot at Helen. That thought just made her mad.

"Ok, so what are you looking for?" Henry asked from Jayden's side.

"Right," Jayden whispered. She pulled out a bandana that she had found on the roof along with the casings. It had Banta's scent all over it. "Here, this is the target."

"Seriously?" Henry took the bandana and gave it a good whiff. Suddenly all of his HAP senses kicked in. Leaving them Henry took the street to his left and went up a block following his nose.

"You find him radio me." Jayden said but she was looking down the street. She took the bandana back and then passed it to the Big guy to her right. He didn't take the red cloth instead he just looked at her. "What?"

"Nothing," He grumbled.

"Did Helen tell you to watch me so I don't kill him?" Jayden asked. But she knew the answer. Helen wanted to talk to Banta, to find out why he was trying to kill her.

"No," Biggie answered. He was simply there to make sure things didn't get out of hand between Jayden and the sniper. There was no telling how protective the lioness would get when faced with the person who shot at Helen. In terms of being protective, they were all feeling that. Helen was important to all of them in one form or another. There wasn't anything he would do to ensure Helen's safety.

"I hope you know how to bring down a 250lb full grown male lion?" Jayden said as she walked away.

"I managed just fine when you were a kid,' He shouted after her.

"Yeah," Jayden turned to walk backwards, "But I was kid then." She said. Jayden turned and ran up the ally to her left.

Jayden was hot on the trail of her brother, or at least she hoped she was. Banta had a penchant for laying false trails and marking his scent in a zig zagging pattern that it would make your head hurt. Jayden stopped and centered her focus. There were other scents of other abnormals, homeless people, and various animals. She opened her eyes and spied a fire escape to her right. Gathering her abnormal strength she jumped and grabbed a hold of the railing. Maybe if she was going from roof to roof she would see him better. The only thing on Jayden's mind was finding her brother.

**BACK AT THE SANCTUARY:**

Helen stood at the same window she had been shot at. She was examining the hole through the glass. It was perfectly round with minor spider web cracks. Instinctively her right hand settled over the wound in her left arm. If Banta was anything like Jayden, he shouldn't have missed the kill shot. Why did he miss? "He shouldn't have missed." Helen turned to see John standing in the alcove.

"So why did he?" Helen asked. This was his nephew after all.

"Maybe Jayden was in the way and shooting you in the arm was his way of getting a clean shot." John walked closer to her reaching out his hand to place it on her right shoulder. He was pleased when she didn't shrug off his touch. "Jayden will bring him back and you can ask him all the questions you want." One more step closer John slid his hand up the side of her neck and cupped her face.

Helen wanted to move back, push him away, but John's presence was too comforting, too familiar. It was one of the reasons that Jayden comforted her the way that she did was because Jayden reminded Helen so much of John. She turned her face into his palm and laid a gentle kiss there. But she had to stop, had to pull back. Indulging in John's closeness was going to be too much. He was her addiction, an addiction she couldn't afford right now. Helen stepped back from him and looked out the window. She took a deep breath and felt him at her back. "John don't."

John wouldn't let her move away. He stepped with her, closed the space between his chest and her back. Using his right arm he brought her back against his chest to hold her. She had just been shot, so far shock hadn't settled in, but he was sure it would. No one was fine after being shot. He wasn't the same after Helen had shot him. Yes, John understood why she had shot him, but he still couldn't get over the fact that she had pulled the trigger. "No one will see you." John whispered close to her ear. A smile spread across his lips when her head bent foreword and her chin touched his forearm.

"Why do I always let you in?" Helen asked looking out at the city. She knew john was bad; he had a creature in him that made him that way. But could she really blame John for the hold the creature had on him.

"Because you know me, you know that creature controls my actions no matter how hard I fight." John kissed the back of her head taking in the scent of her. She truly drove him to madness, to longing. He wanted her more than life itself and he was doomed to never possess her again so long as he was a slave to this monster inside of him.

**OLD CITY STREETS:**

Jayden walked to the ledge of yet another roof she had jumped to and so far she had seen nothing of Banta. She had given up following his scent seeing as he had gone all over the place. Instead she focused on spotting him the old fashioned way; she was going to use her eyes. Backing away from the ledge Jaden unlaced the leather cords of her shirt, dropping it to the ground. She kicked off her shoes and peeled off her leather pants. Letting her lion come through she shifted. The minute she was in lion form sights, sounds, and smells became sharper, more acute. Just as she shifted to lion she was attacked. The force was enough to knock her and her assailant over the ledge and down to the street below.

Down on the street Henry had joined up with the Big Guy to try and find the man who had shot at Magnus. Henry was grateful for more field work, but after his trip to London and finding all the others like him he had wanted to spend quality time in his lab building things. Searching the abandoned section of Old City was not his idea of an afternoon well spent. He had just taken another step when a sound reached his ears. He wasn't sure what it was. Looking up Henry saw two lions falling towards them. He and the Big Guy put their backs against the wall of the nearest building watching as the two lions fell to the side walk, got up, and attacked each other. "Are they supposed to be doing that?"

"No," Biggie grunted. "You get Jayden and I'll take the other one."

"What are you crazy?" Henry shouted over the roaring. There was no way he was going to get into the fray of two fighting lions who wanted to damage to each other.

Biggie slapped Henry upside his head and pointed to Jayden, "Just do it." For that to happen they had to wait for the lions to separate again.

Jayden snarled at Banta. He had actually tackled her over the side of the building and down to the sidewalk below. She rolled to her paws and charged him in return. Banta hadn't been ready for her. They slammed into the pavement with her paws on his chest and her teeth at his jugular. Banta shifted back to human, rolled, reversed, and locked his arms around Jayden's neck forcing her to shift to human as well. The breaking and snapping of her bones had allowed her the right moment to get out of the choke hold. Keeping her lions nails Jayden dug them into his chest to keep him flat on the ground, "Stay down!" she shouted.

"Gods, get off me!" Banta snarled but the claws in his chest were keeping him from moving too much. He wasn't found of having his flesh shredded by his sister.

"No!" Jayden roared. "When Uncle John see's you he is going to hurt you worse than I am. You shot at Helen you moron!" Jayden slammed her knee into his side. Before she could do anymore damage arms were around her waist pulling her back off of her brother. The Big Guy was pulling her off while Henry held a stunner on her brother. "Let me go!"

"Not until you settle down." Biggie growled. It was odd enough holding Jayden as it was. She stopped jerking and twisting in his arms. He put her down and turned her to she was facing him. There were still lion aspects present on her human form. She had the lion ears, the tail, and the sharp lion features to her face including iridescent golden eyes. The shift had been a rush job on her part so she could keep fighting. "Go get dressed."

"Fine, but don't let him out of your sight." Jayden growled right back. She cast one more look back at Banta before she climbed up the fire escape to retrieve her clothes. Jayden made it all the way back up to the roof where she slid her pants back on. She took off the belt that covered up the hole that was primarily there for her tail when she was too lazy to shift all the way back to her human form. Next she picked up her vest shaking it a few times to get the dust off before she put it back on. She tied each lace while she walked over to where her boots were. Pulling them on, Jayden was dressed once again. But she didn't head back down right away. Banta would need pants to put on. She wasn't too fond of her brother walking around naked and she was less inclined to have in him in lion form. He would be plotting and scheming ways to escape.

Over where the roof access door was closed she found a pair of faded, torn blue jeans that had so many holes they looked like they were ready for the trash. Grasping them in her hand Jayden made it back down to the street to find everyone where she had left them. Banta for his part still stayed on the pavement giving off a relaxed posture despite the fact Henry had a stunner trained on him. "Here." Jayden tossed her brothers pants at him. To her nudity was nothing, but to the others, it might be a little offensive.

Banta stood up and pulled the well worn jeans over his legs and up to his hips where he buttoned them. His tail poked out from the back of his jeans just as his sisters did from her leather pants. It had been three years since he had last seen Jayden and she hadn't changed except for the lion features. She was always lazy when it came to changing fully back to human. "You're more lion looking now." He said and to his ears it sounded like a criticism when he hadn't meant it like that. Jayden glared at him, closed her eyes and cracked her neck. Banta watched as her face broke and reshaped to be more human. Just her ears, tail, and eyes remained lion.

"Better?" Jayden snapped. But she did as Banta had done. She looking him up and down and tried to find things that had changed. His hair was longer, still golden. His chest was broader, arms more powerful, and he had his lion features. When they had been younger all three of them had ethereal green/blue eyes that made you think of the Caribbean ocean. But now, their eyes were all lion.

Banta didn't want to fight with her. It had been too long since he had last seen her. He only opened his arms to her. Right now Banta only wanted to hold his sister. "Please?" He asked. She relented and walked to him wrapping her arms around his waist. "I missed you." Banta whispered burying his nose in her hair picking out the scent of a woman he had taken a shot at, but it was a scent he had smelled when he had been a kid. And suddenly her words sank into his mind, the connection had been made. The woman he had taken a shot at had been the woman their uncle had told them was the most important person in the entire world.

"I missed you too, moron." Jayden replied hitting him in his stomach.

Banta pulled back, cleared this throat and asked, "Was it really that Helen I shot at?"

"Yeah, and by the way, Uncle John is going to get you." Jayden smiled. Her voice held a little too much happiness at the thought of John and Banta in a shouting match. They were two alpha lions always vying for control. It was comical to watch sometimes.

"How was I supposed to know? You were the only one whoever saw her picture." Banta defended. His eyes settled on the guy with the gun and then the taller one next to him. "Who are they?"

"The one with the stunner is Henry and that's the Big Guy. They work for Helen." Jayden answered momentarily forgetting that Henry and the Big Guy was actually with her. As much as she wanted to be mad at Banta she couldn't. He was right about knowing who Helen was. She had been the only one to be shown her picture, Tristan and Banta only had a scent to go on. "Helen wanted me to bring you to the Sanctuary."

"Figured," Banta held out his hands with his wrists together, "Gonna handcuff me?"

Jayden scrunched up her nose, "Eww, you sicko." She slapped his wrists signaling him to lower his hands. "But if you run Henry will stun you."

**SANCTUARY:**

The four of them walked through the doors of the Sanctuary and it made Banta whistle. "Wow, now this is some place to live." Jayden only laughed at his side. To her right Henry and the Big Guy split off from them. She was sure Henry was headed to his lab and the Big Guy was going to do whatever he did. That only left her and her brother.

On the second floor landing Banta spotted another woman coming out of one of the rooms. She smelled like Indian curry. It made him purr and the sound reached all the way to her ears. She turned and looked at him. By the way her eyes roved over his body Banta could tell that he interested her. Leaning over to whisper to Jayden he asked, "Who's the cutie?"

Jayden had seen Kate come out and knew instantly that she would catch Banta's attention. Her brother was nothing if not an incurable man whore. "Her name is Kate and No I don't know if she is singe. After we talk to Helen, then you can go and play." Jayden answered his question and answered the next one she knew he had to have had brewing in his brain. Turning the corner Jayden saw Helen and immediately smiled. "Brought him back and he can talk. If you call what he does talking."

"What I do… please. I do much more than talk. What's your excuse?" Banta poked his sister in the side. "Besides I still can't believe that you are sleeping with a woman." Banta looked at the painting on the wall giving on the air of being sidetracked. He had heard on the grape vine five years ago that his sister had been seen in the company of a woman looking very cozy and comfortable. So naturally he associated that with them sleeping in the same bed.

Jayden flicked her brother on the ear and said, "What is wrong with sleeping with a woman?" She moved her hand up and down indicating Helen. "She is very attractive and if you had a brain in your head you would want to sleep with her too. But if you tried then Uncle John might hurt you even more." Jayden stuck her tongue out at him, acting very much the youngest sibling that she was. "As I recall women are your favorite flavor."

"Yeah, but I didn't think you enjoyed them though. I thought you liked men," Banta replied staring at his sister. He always thought his sister was normal in liking men. Though, if he had ever met any of the men he would have to beat them senseless for sleeping with his baby sister. It was just how he was.

"I actually enjoy sleeping with Helen every night." Jayden shot back. "And I do enjoy men, lots of men." Helen gave Jayden the sense of security that she had been lacking. When Ashley was alive, it had been the same with her. Sometimes Jayden would curl up with Ashley and then sometimes Jayden would be on the couch in Helen's office while Helen worked late.

"I love how they talk about us like we're not even here." Helen muttered to John making him smile. She knew John was going to question her about Jayden sleeping with her, but that was later. And if he happened to ask then she would tell him that Jayden curled up on her bed like a house cat. Jayden was her lion/house cat.

"They're always like this. Tristan is actually the normal one." John replied watching niece and nephew snipe at each other. Even when they were four years old Banta and Jayden were always fighting. Tristan just stayed out of their way. Having enough of their arguing John whistled sharply. "Enough!" Instantly Jayden and Banta quieted; their ears falling flat against their heads. "Ask your questions." John pinned Banta with a cold stare that warned him to behave.

Helen leaned her head to the right, her own ears ringing from the volume of John's whistle. Truly everything about him was powerful. She looked at Banta with slight shock at how close he resembled Jayden. They both had long hair, the same lips, the same nose, and when their eyes were human eyes Helen would guess they had the same eyes. But then again it shouldn't be surprised; they shared the same blood and DNA. Pinning him with her no nonsense business stare Helen asked, "Why are you trying to kill me?"


	4. Chapter 4

Summary: Jayden is a lion abnormal with a link to Helen that none of the Sanctuary crew would ever guess. Out of the blue Jayden shows up to stir things up while Helen and Nikola get close to cracking the 3-D city. A/U

Rating: T

Pairing: Helen/OFC Helen/John

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Sanctuary or the characters.

**THE LIONESS:**

Banta turned to Helen, the Helen that his uncle had told him about since he was three years old. If he was the lion male he was he would feel monumentally stupid for wounding the woman that obviously possessed his uncle. But he had too much pride to admit that he was wrong so he replied, "I was paid to wound not to kill. It wasn't enough money anyway." Banta shrugged and turned to one of the various windows that lined the Sanctuary walls.

"How much does it cost to kill me?" Helen asked. She looked at Banta and noted the air of nonchalance that he gave off. Looking to Jayden, Helen noticed that her lioness pinned her brother with an almost murderous stare. She felt for Jayden. In seeking the loyalty from the lioness Helen had pitted her against her uncle and now her brother.

"A horribly obscene amount of money. The price I was paid was just ostentatious." Banta answered without looking at her this time. If Magnus was going to order Jayden then she would have already done it and he and his sister would be fighting. For the time being Banta thought that he was safe. He doubted that Helen would try and kill him in retaliation for wounding her. Jayden on the other hand might make him pay for drawing blood.

"How much were you paid?" Jayden asked.

"35…" Banta said as he idly cracked his neck.

"Thousand?" Helen questioned.

"Million," Banta replied.

"Damn," Jayden drew out the word. That was still a lot of money to shell out to have someone killed. "That's go legit and buy an island money. How much would it take for you to kill Helen?"

Banta turned to his sister drawing in a deep breath, "Oh, about 100 million knowing that she's Uncle John's woman. But even then I wouldn't take the job. Incurring the wrath of the Ripper is not worth the monetary gain. I like living too much." He scratched his chin.

"And there's your brain kicking in. At least you still have a survival instinct." Jayden quipped. Banta looked at his sister with a droll stare before he stuck out his tongue at her. He might be a man, but he could still act like a child.

"Relax, I'm not going to try and kill her anymore." Banta turned to Helen and continued, "Now that I see her, I know why you fought so hard." He held out his hand to her and waited. A small smile spread over his lips when Helen put her hand in his. Banta leaned down and nuzzled the back of her hand. It was a lion gesture that showed how sorry for what he had done.

"Is this your way of saying you're sorry?" Helen inquired even though she knew what the gesture meant. Jayden had done the same thing numerous times.

Banta looked up at her, looked at his uncle, and then back to Helen, "Monumentally." He said with a devilish smile. "There's just something about you that makes me feel like a kitten instead of the lion I am."

"And you said Tristan was the normal one?" Helen asked looking at John. Banta let go of her hand and stood beside Jayden. Standing together they looked like something out of an artist's imagination with the tails, the ears, and the eyes. She could only imagine what the picture would look like with Tristan in the mix.

"Yes," John answered. "All though two lions are better than one." He gazed upon the siblings and felt the swell of pride that only a father could feel. John never got to feel that for Ashley, but he certainly felt it now looking at Banta and Jayden. To him, Jayden, Banta, and Tristan were his children; his treasures that only had a handful of years left on their lives. That knowledge broke what was left of his heart that hadn't been polluted by the evil attached to his soul.

**EARLY EVENING:**

By early evening Helen was ready to call it a day. She had logged some time with Nikola in the Library with the holo-city, but they had no way to get past the symbol that had showed up when Jayden had first interacted with it. Then she had gone to Henry's lab to see if he had had any luck with the Money transfer that Banta had received. Just as her foray in the library Henry, werewolf and Tech genius, was at a dead end. He had apologized and said he would keep working. Helen knew that by morning he would have something for her, even if it was a whisper thin lead. Rather than head to her room, Helen went to her office to try and clear some of the reports she had left lying there.

Helen hadn't even made it as far as her office when she stopped by the window seat to look directly down into the yard where John was with Banta and Jayden in lion form. At first she thought that they were attacking him. She was about to rush outside when Helen noticed that Jayden rolled over his chest and nudged him with her muzzle. From her spot at the window Helen could see John laughing and he was smiling ruffling her fur. Then out of nowhere Banta charged. John used his powers to get out of the way. Jayden and Banta tumbled and rolled for a few seconds before John reappeared and they went after him.

"They're not killing him are they?"

Helen turned to see Will standing at her side. She smiled, "No, John's just playing with them." It was a sight that reminded her of the way Kara and John would play.

"I have seen a lot of weird things, but this is…." Will motioned to the window. Seeing Druitt out in the yard with the lion siblings just made him think of something at a side show carnival.

"To John, this is normal. He's been around lions since he was ten." Helen answered. Images of Kara flooded her mind. That would be a night she would never forget as long as she lived. Helen had been with John the night he had found his sister murdered. It was a night that would haunt him for the rest of his life. It was a pain that she would never wish on anyone.

**OUTSIDE:**

John moved out of the way of Jayden and dodged Banta. He had a moment to look up at the window where he knew Helen to be. She was there watching them in the yard. He had gotten caught up in trying to see her face against the glare of the setting sun that he missed Jayden charging him. They went down to the hard earth. He started to laugh as Jayden rolled over him then nudged his cheek. "Ok, you silly beast," He ruffled the fur at her neck. He moved into a crouch and growled at the pair of lions in the best way that he could. Banta charged him. John countered and rolled to the ground with Banta under him. Jayden leaped at his back. Just at the last minute he teleported away, appearing a few feet away.

He dropped low into a crouch watching both of them as they circled him. Jayden was the first to come at him. He hooked his arms around her torso and rolled with her under him. Jayden's back paws dug into his stomach as he brought a fake knife up to her throat. "Got ya," John smiled. She shook her massive head and went limp. He laughed for a few seconds. A few seconds was all he had. Banta roared and leaped on his back taking them to the ground inches away from Jayden. Banta knew John hadn't hurt his sister, but the game wasn't done.

John moved out from under Banta feeling a warm trickle down his back. Reaching around John felt the sharp pain of claw marks. "No claws Banta," John smiled at the familiar pain. Wiping the blood off on his pants he waited. Banta took one step and then sat down. "You'd let an old man beat you," He taunted. Banta only yawned resting his head on his front paws. "Lazy!" He shouted and laughed at his nephew. John stood up so he could go to Banta. Dropping down to the ground John stretched out on his side burying his hand in Banta's lush mane. This was the time that John savored the most; just being with them in lion form. When they were lions their needs were so simple. Jayden was at his side nudging his shoulder with her nose. She didn't wait. Jayden laid down and rested her head on his side staring at him. She and Banta started to purr.

"Don't you look all comfy?"

John angled his head to see Helen staring down at him. She was wearing a small smile. John realized how he must look to her. Right now he wasn't the killer, the Ripper. He was just John Druitt resting with his lion family. Right now he was just a man. "Care to join us?" He had to ask, had to taunt her.

"I just came out here to tell you dinner is almost ready." Helen had a fleeting moment where she wanted to lie down in the grass with them. But she couldn't indulge in the feelings that would be brought out at lounging with them, with John. She wasn't ready to examine all the feelings he was bringing up inside of her. He had a way of mixing up all the emotional turmoil just by being around. And it didn't help that Nikola hadn't stopped pestering her about why he was here. Looking him over again she saw blood on his lower back and across his shoulders. "If you want I can take care of those cuts for you."

"Thank you," John responded. He held out his hand to her to see if she would take it. Helen leaned her head to the left and smiled. She placed her hand in his and pulled him to his feet. John still had enough energy to get up, but he wanted to see how much contact Helen would let him have. Keeping his hand in hers John walked with her to the infirmary with the two lions following them. To him, it was the most normal thing in the world.

**INFIRMARY:**

Helen cleaned the claw marks marveling at John's pain tolerance. Every now and then he would flinch when the peroxide/saline solution was used over the wounds, but he wouldn't cry out or tell her to stop. "You have to be more careful. I couple inches deeper and you would've risked damage to your spinal cord." Helen chided.

"This isn't the worst I've ever had." John replied running his right index finger over the scar on his cheek. "They weren't trying to wound me. We were only playing." He flinched, his breath catching in his chest. John knew he was lucky to get away with Helen cleaning the wounds and putting gauze over it. Still, he felt grateful for her gentle touch. Her hands traveled up his back to the second set of claw marks that were over his shoulder blades.

"These aren't so bad." Helen spoke putting salve over the marks. "John, you should be more careful." It was only out of concern that she mentioned it again. Helen hated to see him hurt or bleeding.

"I know what I'm doing." John immediately answered. "When Kara and I played, she would slice me up worse than this." He rotated his neck, felt it crack. "You remember the scars I used to have on my chest from her." He mentioned. After the injection of the Source Blood those scars had vanished.

Helen remembered all too well those certain scars. Before they had become lovers she had happened upon him in the pars with his sister. John had no shirt on, bare feet and grass stained trousers while his sister pulled on her big brothers shirt. Helen had been too stunned by the sight of him to turn away. Even with the scars he looked beautiful. Of all the handsome men she had know John was the only one to be handsome and beautiful at the same time.

"All done," Helen said taping down the last corner of the gauze. She looked at the tatters of his shirt. "But it would seem that you need a new shirt." She laughed when he turned to her. Helen tried not to look at the expanse of his chest, tried not to remember how it felt under her hands. John was the only man that she had ever felt completely herself with. Yes, she had had other men, but none of them compared to John Druitt and the feelings he invoked from her.

"You wouldn't have a man's shirt lying around would you?" John asked leaning closer to her. He knew the effect he had on her and he used it to his advantage most of the time. It was petty, underhanded, and yet he still did it. John wanted her to admit that she still felt strongly for him. He saw the truth of it lingering in her eyes the last time he had graced the halls of her Sanctuary. Last time he was here he had told her that he still loved her. John hadn't wanted her to say anything; it was why he left, taken that thing back inside of his body. He did it to save her.

"I think so." Helen whispered. But the shirt she did have of his was in her room. Without saying anything she turned to the door that led to the hall and waited for John to follow her. He was at her side without prompting. She was intensely aware of him at her side even though she tried not to be. He was still very much in her blood, on her mind. No matter how much time past Helen would never be rid of the need to have John by her side. He was the one person in the entire world that mattered to her as much as Ashley had, or how much Jayden meant to her.

John knew where Helen was taking him under the guise of giving him a shirt. He was just happy to be her side once again. Normally the fact he had no shirt on would have bothered him, but he guessed some of Banta's bad habits wore off on him. If it enticed Helen, then he wouldn't let it get to him. Before he knew it they were at Helen's door. She was stepping inside and to the side to allow him entrance as well. Looking around he could tell that Jayden had been here, gotten dressed, and left. Some of her clothes were strewn about on the bed. His niece was a hurricane in causing a mess. But the one redeeming quality is that she wouldn't let the mess grow. The next time she came to this room the mess would be cleaned as if it had never existed.

Helen walked to the dresser while John lingered by the bed looking at all of Jayden's clothes. One thing could be said about her lioness; she was a short time mess maker. Helen shook her head and reached into the top drawer. Her hands closed over the black shirt that John had left here nearly a year ago. It wasn't his only article of clothing that he had left in her house, but the shirt was the only on that she kept close to her. In the middle of the night when she was feeling lonely she would pull out the shirt and put it on just to feel as if it was John holding her. She truly missed the feeling of his arms. Early today wasn't enough; she wanted more of him, more of his touch. Only, Helen couldn't bring herself to ask for more. She knew she could, but she was still scared about what it would mean. "Here," Helen turned to him. "It's one of the ones you left behind." She handed it to him.

John took the shirt letting his fingers brush over hers. "And you felt the need to keep it close to you?" he asked, his voice low and sensual. Yet, another bad habit that had carried over to him from Banta was his need to tease. John loved it. He could see the flicker of fire in her eyes; the hint of want. After all these years he still fired her blood. They would never truly be done with each other. There was no way they could be. Too much bound them together; blood, love, Ashley, and Jayden.

"If you had taken your clothes with you, then I never would have had to keep them," Helen quipped. She smiled a wry smile at him and John smiled in return. Holding his gaze she watched as he slipped the shirt on, pulled it up his arms, and settled it over his chest as he began to button each button very slow. Helen's heart beat faster. She wanted to reach out to him, to fall into his tempting trap. Drawing in a deep breath laced with his scent Helen stepped back. Now was not the time to get caught up in John again.

"I'm here if and when you want me, Helen." John whispered. He wanted her to know that, but more than that he wanted the words spoken aloud so there would be no confusion between them. He still hungered for her, his skin could barely remember the feel of her. Helen was the one woman in all of creation that had been meant for him.

"What makes you think that I still want you?" She asked; her voice just as low as his. But she knew she did. Helen hadn't had the chance to burn out the need for him that still called to her like a siren's song. It wasn't just his body that she desired, it the desire to have her past back. She wanted to go back to when they were happy and together.

"The way you look at me, the way you tended my wounds, and the way you haven't told me to get out." John leaned a little closer, his lips an inch from hers. He wanted to kiss her, to plunder her mouth, but this had to be her choice. She had to come to him. Last time he was the one to go to her. It was Helen's turn to make the choice.

"We should get something to eat." Helen said because it was all she could say. Everything John had said was true. She still hungered for him and only him. He was always going to be her main hunger that would never be satisfied. Moving to the door Helen had to take a deep breath to calm her rattled nerves, to quiet her body. She wanted John back, but the price was something she wasn't willing to contemplate yet

**DINNER:**

Jayden sat at Helen's right hand while her uncle sat to the left. It was odd to sit in a chair that once belonged to Ashley. But knowing her best friend the way she did Ashley wouldn't care. Banta sat next to Jayden and kept his eyes firmly pinned on Kate. She wanted to kick him under the table, but her brother would only grin at her and stare at Kate harder. It was best to leave him alone. Tesla sat next to John sipping his wine and keeping his eyes on Helen, while Will was next to Banta and diagonal from Kate. Henry was across from Will and the two of them talked.

This felt too good to Jayden. And if something was too good it was bound to end in pain and tears. She angled her body to watch Helen, but Helen's eyes were darting between her uncle and the rest of the people at her table. The only one missing from the table was the Big Guy. He had opted out for tonight. Jayden was so lost in thought that she didn't hear the question Will had asked. "Huh?"

"We were talking about what Ashley did the summer she turned 18 with the den of werewolves. I was just curious what you did. Hunted down the Loch Ness Monster? Exterminated a whole town of Zombies perhaps?" Will teased.

"The town of Zombies wasn't until I was 21." She smiled. "Let's see… When I was 18 we lived in Peru right?" Jayden asked Helen.

"Yes," Helen answered glancing at John quickly. Something told her that he knew some of the story Jayden was about to tell.

"Right! On a side note, if you ever go to Peru, go to this club called CLUB LEONIS. A lion run club. Best place to play ever." Jayden exclaimed. "It was the town with the Chicken/Lizard…. Basilisk!" She situated herself in the chair more comfortably so she could tell the story. "Ok, we had just gotten to this small town in Peru where an abnormal sighting was beginning to scare the villagers. They kept calling it a demon, but what we really knew to be a Basilisk. Contrary to popular myth, does not turn you to stone. If so, you would not be talking to us right now," The table broke out in laughter, all except Tesla who only smirked. "We waited for this thing to show up for three days. As soon as we are on our way out, it attacks this farmer. Ashley and I tear ass through the field after it and we get to this clearing and it's an actual chicken/lizard."

"Did it have feathers or something?" Tesla asked. Against his better judgment he was enraptured by the jubilant way the lioness related her tale.

"No, it had a chicken beak and the feet, but the head, tail, and body of a lizard. The thing was fast too." Jayden whistled at the memory. "Naturally Ash tried to tap it with a few tranq rounds but the scales on this thing were so thick it was like shooting at Kevlar."

"What happened next?" Kate asked. She had been staring at the brother for most of the night. He was gorgeous in that way that made a woman want more. Maybe when dinner was finished she would ask him if he wanted to play.

"You won't believe me." Jayden replied laughing.

"You can't just start a story and then stop." Will protested. He had been watching Jayden during most of dinner and she had kept her conversation limited to Helen, Druitt, and her brother.

"Ok, well, Ashley and I were about to get into it with this thing and here comes Helen out of the tall grass." Jayden started to laugh when Helen leaned over and covered her mouth.

"You're done telling this story." Helen stated clamping her hand over Jayden's mouth.

"Now, I'm interested." Nikola announced before taking another sip of his wine. "Come now Helen. Let her regale us with her interesting tale."

"Shut up Nikola," Helen replied with no anger in her voice. But she dropped her hand from Jayden's mouth. Helen knew that Jayden was going to finish the story with the least amount of details. It was still embarrassing to remember.

"What happened next?" John asked reaching under the table to squeeze Helen's knee lightly.

"She was covered in mud from head to toe. Ashley and I were laughing so hard it allowed the creature to get away." Everyone around the table started to laugh. Jayden leaned over and rested her head on Helen's shoulder.

"I lost my footing. What Jayden failed to mention is that it had been raining for those three days." Helen felt her cheeks turn red, but she couldn't help but join in the laughter. Under the table she took John's hand in hers.

**IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT:**

Jayden was curled up with Helen; sound asleep, when a cry of distress reached her ears. Opening her eyes Jayden looked around the room and listened very carefully. She wasn't sure if what she had heard had been real or conjured from the recesses of her subconscious. Jayden jumped down from the bed so she could go to the door and listen for the sound again. A few seconds past and she heard nothing. Just as she turned around there was the cry again. Using her right paw she pulled the door open and padded out into the hall to search out the origin of the sound. Jayden had just passed the door that led to her uncle's room when she heard him shout. She tried to nudge the door open, but he had closed it all the way. There was no choice but to head back to bed and wake up Helen.

Helen had that feeling, even deep in sleep, that someone was watching her. She didn't want to wake, didn't want to confront who it was, hoping that it wasn't Nikola. Giving it a few seconds Helen thought the feeling would dissipate, but it didn't. She opened her eyes to see Jayden staring at her. "Oh you silly lion, what are you doing?" Helen wanted to roll over to go back to sleep when a sound of distress reached her. It sounded like John. Without having Jayden tug her Helen got out of bed going to his door. She lightly knocked but only heard his shout the word 'No!' over and over. He had to be dreaming of Kara. Opening the door she and Jayden walked in to see John tossing from side to side.

Seeing him like this broke Helen's heart. The one true horror in John's past was plaguing him this night. Helen didn't stop to think, she only reacted. Going around the left side of the bed Helen climbed in and pulled John back against her. She wrapped her arms around his shoulder and rested her cheek against his temple. He stilled slightly. "Shh, shh, shh, John it's ok. Everything's alright," Helen whispered over and over. She motioned for Jayden to climb up there with them. Having a lion close would also help to soothe his worried mind and allow him to sleep.

Jayden used her front paws to shut the door before she jumped up into the bed where her uncle was having a nightmare. She remembered the last time he had been like this. Jayden had been four and it was right after they had come to live with him. Back then she would have been curled in a pile with Banta and Tristan. No one had been there to comfort him them. Putting that thought out of her mind, Jayden lay down on her side with her head resting on her uncle's lap with her tail and back paws draped over Helen's lap. She stayed there purring away and hoping that it would help her uncle.

_John dreamed of blood and death. He dreamed of he mangled body of his half sister, the sister he failed to protect. The night was so clear; so many people were standing out front of his house. He used his powers to teleport inside and it was then that he saw the blood. Grief and rage overtook him. He ran through the people, Helen's father and other scientist's who knew about the abnormals, assembled; he ran to his sister's side. "NO! Kara!" John shouted falling to his knees next to her body. There was so much blood, but he didn't care. Kara was all he could see. He pulled her into his arms and for the first time he didn't care who was there, didn't care who saw him completely shatter into a thousand pieces. His sister was dead and he hadn't been there to protect her._

**THE NEXT MORNING:**

John felt warm, content. Last night he had felt cold and desolate inside despite the good mood of the people in the house and at dinner. He had just wanted to go to bed, sleep, and try and dispel his melancholy. But as soon as he closed his eyes he had seen the death and carnage that had been Kara's murder. It was the one thing that truly still haunted him ore than turning on Helen, betraying their love. He had always told her that he would protect her, keep her safe, and he had been so tied up with Helen that he hadn't been with Kara when she needed him the most. If he hadn't let his love for Helen completely possess his mind he might have been able to save his sister. John hated to admit it, but for a while he hated himself and Helen. Kara was dead and it had been his fault. Her killer had remained at large; John hadn't been allowed to exact the revenge he wanted.

Opening his eyes it took John a few minutes to realize that there were arms draped over his chest a lion resting in his lap. Angling his head he saw Helen by his side, well, behind him with her arms wrapped around him. And Jayden was resting over his lap. What could have made her come to him in the dead of night while he was sleeping? Then it occurred to him. He probably had been tossing and turning during his minds foray into the past, into the death of Kara. It was the one night that plagued him through eternity.

John put his palm against the top of Jayden's head petting her. To everyone else Jayden was sarcastic, she mouthed off, had a ridiculous humor, but to him and Helen she was a tender hearted lioness who showed them devotion and loyalty; just the way Kara had been. He loved that the most about his niece and about his nephews as well. But all the love he was capable of would not save them from death. The only race in the world that could possibly do that was the vampires and they were dead. Of course there was still the hope of the 3-D city. Maybe that held some answers for Jayden and her brothers. Maybe in that city there was a way to save his family. Right now hope was all John had. He settled back in Helen's embrace to wait until she woke for the day.

A few hours later Helen woke to sun light streaming across her eyes. John was still resting against her and Jayden was figuratively dead to the world. She had to the urge to stretch but if John was still asleep then she didn't want to wake him up. For three hours last night she had stayed awake trying to calm him from his nightmare. Finally around 5a.m he settled down allowing Helen to get some rest as well. The only one oblivious to it all was Jayden. Once she was asleep she was asleep until she chose to wake up.

"Good Morning," John whispered to her. He had sensed the moment she had come back into the waking world. Until Jayden chose to wake up as well he was pinned against Helen and she was pinned under him. Moving a 200lb lion was not what he wanted to first thing in he morning.

"Good morning." Helen replied with a smile. Of course he was awake. He was always awake before her. "Are you stuck under Jayden still?" Helen asked but she knew that the lioness was still dead to the world. So, she didn't know why she bothered to ask at all.

"Pretty much. We're trapped in bed for the time being," John answered with a laugh leaning his head back on her shoulder. "Thank you."

"For what?" But Helen knew what he meant.

"For this." 'For pulling me out of the darkness. For holding me in your arms once more.' John thought the rest. He wasn't ready to give voice to his nightmare yet. Though, he knew Helen knew already.

Helen smiled again. She couldn't comment on their situation yet. Instead Helen said, "You're lion like yourself John." She tightened her arms around him slightly. All he needed was a little touch, someone to hold him, and he settled; the nightmares fleeing from the comfort and warmth. Being around lions had rubbed off on him. It was just another layer that she had uncovered about the man who still held her heart.


	5. Chapter 5

Summary: Jayden is a lion abnormal with a link to Helen that none of the Sanctuary crew would ever guess. Out of the blue Jayden shows up to stir things up while Helen and Nikola get close to cracking the 3-D city. A/U

Rating: T

Pairing: Helen/OFC Helen/John

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Sanctuary or the characters.

**THE LIONESS:**

**KATE'S ROOM:**

Banta and Kate had knocked off their playing around dawn when she fell into an exhausted sleep. He rolled out of bed to stand at the window so he could see the sun rise casting a fiery light over new city. It was one of his favored things to do after a long bout of passionate sex. Kate was lively and matched his stamina. Turning to the bed again, Kate had curled onto her side exposing the long line of her back to his hungry gaze. Soon he would have to leave. Last night he had had a terrible feeling, something was happening and that he should be near his uncle, but he couldn't brig himself to leave Kate and all of her passion she was freely giving him.

Gathering his ripped jeans and black t-shirt Banta got dressed. He headed down the flight of stairs to the second floor making his way quietly to the door that would lead him to his uncle's room. His hand reached out but a strange scent stopped him. Helen was just beyond the door. Opening the door slowly he saw Helen with his uncle lying against her. They were pinned by his sister in lion form. That was the one draw back of being a lion abnormal. As soon as one feel asleep their true form would bleed through and the human ceased to show; they slept as lions. Hence the other reason he hadn't wanted to actually sleep with Kate. Banta wasn't sure how she would react to sharing her bed with an actual lion.

Banta had just shut the door when he heard, "Where have you been all night?"

Turning Banta smiled like a little boy who had just been caught sneaking back into the house, "Well, I was…" He started. His uncle just raised his eyebrow at him. It was a little awkward telling his uncle that he had spent the bulk of the evening with a woman.

"You were playing with Kate all night, weren't you?" John asked. Helen shifted behind him making him sit up just a little more. With Jayden still asleep over his legs, John couldn't move much.

"She was willing." Banta replied. "Do you need help?" Motioning to Jayden. His sister looked dead to the world, comfortable in sleep. It was enough to make Banta smile.

"That would be nice." Helen responded. As much as she wanted to stay with John, there was still work to be done and plus she had to visit Henry to find out what he uncovered. "Your sister is about 200lbs of sleeping dead weight." On a few occasions Helen had been trapped in bed longer than she would have liked due to the long sleeping habits that Jayden had adopted.

"Oh," Banta muttered. He moved to the edge of the bed, jumped on to the end of it, and pulled his sister back off of their uncle and into his lap where she stayed asleep. "This is not 200lbs. I would say a buck eighty."

"Hysterical," John muttered but he couldn't stay mad at his nephew. Banta was nothing if not a libertine at heart. He loved life and loved woman with a voracious appetite. "Libertine," John muttered following Helen out of the bed. Banta moved Jayden so she was stretched out. And then he joined his sister in sleep. John only shook his head. Lions were known to be lazy; he shouldn't be surprised. He looked up in time to see Helen going for the door.

Helen froze when she felt John's eyes on her. She knew how she looked but she had to leave. Turning back to him Helen almost started to speak, but the sight of him made her stop. He stood with his arms at his sides and his eyes locked on hers. It reminded her of the first time they had seen each other. "I have to go and talk to Henry." Helen muttered hurrying out of the room.

John wasn't about to let her leave, except he didn't have a choice. She had to be willing, which she had come to comfort him during his nightmare. That had touched him, made him remember what it was to be a man, not a demon who lusted for blood and death. To his eyes she had looked enticing in the crimson pants and black t-shirt. He never would have thought she would have ever worn something like that. Sighing John did not pursue her. He let her go about her day. Later would be enough time for them to talk. He was ready for that, ready to confess his demons in regards to Kara. John had kept it to himself long enough.

**HENRY'S LAB:**

Helen had changed as quickly as she could without trying to picture John or remember the way he had felt in her arms. It was something she had tried so hard not to remember, not to long for, but it was John. He was John and she would be drawn to him to eternity. Taking a deep breath Helen shook free the thoughts of John and focused on what information she knew Henry would have for her. And there sitting at his desk was Henry actively working away. He had three monitors all streaming information. "Good morning Henry." Helen smiled when he turned to her.

"Oh, hey doc," Henry greeted with his usual smile.

"Do you have anything for me?" Helen asked knowing that he did.

"Actually I do." Henry tapped a few keys on his computer and brought up a website. "This is the shell company that funneled the money into the account that the brother gave me. I traced it all the way back to another dummy account. That had me fooled for like a minute, and then I hit pay dirt." Henry handed his boss a print out. It was as much information as he could manage to find about the person who hired Jayden's brother.

Helen worked hard to keep her features neutral while her mind did a complete 180. The name on the paper was someone who should have been long dead; Adam Worth. "Thank you Henry. This is a great help." Helen spoke without looking at him. She turned and left the lab to head to her office to dig a little deeper. Helen was sure that Henry would get her all the information that she would want, given time. But this was something she had to do on her own. It concerned her, a deed from her past, John, the Five, and the murder of Kara Druitt.

**JOHN'S ROOM:**

John had started to pull on his shirt but stopped. He still had the bandages on his back. Reaching around John pulled them off seeing minimal blood on the white gauze. He shook his head at that before dropping both bandages into the trash can. John moved over to the window to gaze out at the iron jungle that Helen felt so at home in. there were so many people over there who had no idea that this place existed or the creatures with in it's walls. At one time he had wanted to be normal, have a normal life, and just be with Helen. But he had been seduced by the science, by the thought of being altered by the Source blood. For the few couple of years his life had been blissful. He had Helen, had love, had a life. And then the darkness set in taking Helen away from him and tainting his soul with rage that was only sated with the blood of others.

John thought back to the night he had come home to find his sister dead, murdered. It was later that night when he was moving all over London via his powers that he felt something change. John had been grieving, but a few days later the rage had set in. He worked to cover it up and then he fell ill leaving Helen's only recourse to use her blood to save him which in turn condemned his soul. That was the start of his long, painful dark days cast out of Helen's life to wonder the world only seeking solace in the death of other. John knew peace only when he killed. Except he now had Jayden and Banta; they made his life something more. And in time hopefully, he could have Helen in his life again.

The sunlight streamed in over his skin. He held out his hand in the light and looked at the paleness of his skin. It was pure white, almost like snow. If he was to put Helen's hand next to his, she would be just as pale. It came from living a life mostly at night. John hated the day light. It was too bright, too harsh. He was only content at night. John glanced back at the bed where Jayden and Banta were now asleep. Smiling he went to sit on the edge so he could run his fingers through Banta's mane of fur. As much as he wanted to go back to sleep, to let the day pass, John's body was too geared up. He was awake and had nothing to do. Normally he would make his own fun, but his kind of fun was frowned on by Helen. Best to abide her rules while in residence of the Sanctuary.

Rising to his feet once again John leaned against the glass of the window to gaze out over the city. Gently something nudged the back of his thigh. John didn't have to look to know that it was Jayden. Her massive paws appeared on the window sill. "I've already thanked Helen, and now I should thank you as well." John muttered placing his hand in between Jayden's ears. Turning to her John saw understanding in the lioness' eyes. Jayden cocked her head to the side before she leaned her furred forehead to his, purring. This was the only time John ever felt right, felt like he wasn't a monster; being with lions.

"Oh isn't this touching."

Jayden crouched and bared her teeth at the former vampire. She wasn't in the mood for the vampire today. To her right her uncle asked, "What do you want Nikola?"

"Well, first and foremost, put on a shirt. Second, I need one of your kittens in the library." Nikola fixed his gaze on the scene outside the window rather than on John or the lioness.

John crouched down beside Jayden, picked up his shirt and whispered to her. She looked at him and snorted. Jayden then moved to Nikola and took the edge of pants in her mouth so she could tug him out the door. John smiled while sliding on his shirt. While Nikola was occupied he could go and see Helen. There was something different about her when she left this morning and he wanted to make sure she was ok.

**HELEN'S OFFICE:**

Helen had been replaying the last time she had seen Adam in her mind all day. It hadn't been the happiest of days. She had chased Adam to the edge of the cliff where she had shot him and he had fallen to the river below. John had confirmed his death. Helen hadn't questioned it. She had no reason to; Adam was dead and she was free to continue her work unchecked by the government. The Prime Minister had seen to that. Still seeing Adam's name, it made her think that he was still alive. Somehow he had escaped death and survived all these years plotting.

"Helen?"

A hand touched her arm and she jumped. Looking up she saw John. "Oh, John I'm sorry. I was lost in thought."

"Did Henry find something?" John asked leaning against her desk. He saw the paper with the name Adam Worth printed on it. However, he wouldn't mention it until Helen started to talk.

"Tell me everything that happened at the river that day." Helen rose from her chair and walked to the window.

John stayed where he was sighing as his mind took him back to that day. "You had told us to stay out of sight and then you pursued Adam on foot. James, Nigel, and Tesla had stayed; I only followed when I heard the gun shots. I had seen you pull the trigger and then I had seen Adam fall. Using my powers I had gotten to him in time, but we both fell into the water. Adam had given me the keys to his underworld empire to help me avoid capture. The old boy had been true to his word and then I let him go, let him die with honor."

Helen faced John, "But you were sure he was dead?"

"Helen he drowned. I saw him sink below the surface myself. Then I went to his flat and found the keys to his safety deposit box. The old boy was actually telling the truth." John answered. Whatever the wolf had told her must have made her question a death that took place well over a hundred years ago.

"Then his ghost hired Banta to shoot at me." Ever since finding that map things have gone down hill for her. It was a puzzle her father expected her to solve. Except she had only unlocked any of it with Nikola's help and that had taken days. Helen's mind was going a million miles a minute when a loud roar sounded.

"What has he done to Jayden now?" John growled.

"Who?" Though, she already knew.

"Nikola. He asked to 'borrow' Jayden so he could work more on the 3-D city I guess." John answered.

Helen was about to speak when another roar sounded, louder this time. "We should go and rescue him shouldn't we?" Helen asked. John smiled at her and she smiled back. But the smile wouldn't last as soon as she came back here.

"Or at least we should go and rescue Jayden from his horrible personality." John answered. But the news that Adam could still be alive made his mind spin. He had been there; he had let Adam drown with the last shred of honor the man possessed. How could anyone survive that? Though, the Five had survived time, who's to say Adam Worth couldn't find a way to survive death.

**LIBRARY:**

Nikola stared at the giant lion as she yawned and set her head down on her crossed paws. He had been trying for the last hour to get her to help but as soon as she had dragged him back here she had curled up and just stared at him. Nikola had thought that with the lion here more of the city would open up and he could make head way. It was humbling to know that there were people out there, or below them, that could make this kind of technology and he couldn't figure it out. Nikola hated to feel humbled. It was irritating. "Would you do something?" He asked. The Lioness only snorted at him and turned her head.

"Did you try asking politely?"

Nikola turned from the lazy lion to see Helen and John in the doorway. Both of them were trying not to laugh at him. "No," He cast his gaze back to the lioness. She was a lump if golden tan fur on the ground.

Helen laughed at Nikola. Manners were far beyond him. She was sure he had some, but he never used them, never even thought to use them. "Maybe you should try," Helen said going to Jayden. Looking at her lioness she whispered, "And maybe you should go and get dressed." Jayden yawned again getting to her paws. She nudged Helen with her nose before leaving the library.

"Where is she going?"

"You do want her to be able to speak don't you?" John asked.

"You really want me to answer that?" Nikola replied.

"Gentlemen, enough," Helen moved between them looking at John. "I wanted Jayden out of here while we talked."

John lowered his head and stepped back so Helen could turn to Nikola. Right now dealing with Adam, or who ever has taken on his name, needed to be dealt with. They could save the petty squabbling for later. "Apparently someone has taken on the name Adam Worth."

"Oh great. Just what we need." Nikola backed away to study the oscillating set of symbols of the temple that had activated when Jayden entered the room with him. They were a translation of some sort but he couldn't figure them out. It was driving him crazy to the point he had gone to ask for one of the lions.

Jayden hadn't exactly left like she should have. Lingering by the door she heard the name Adam Worth. It was a name that sounded somewhat familiar but she couldn't place the name. Maybe that was the guy who hired Banta. Then how would her uncle and the former vampire know the significance of the name, unless it was someone from their past with Helen. Whatever was going on was more involved with the city and that Adam guy than they were telling her. Jayden hated being in the dark. Loping off, Jayden headed back to Helen's room where she could get dressed. After that she would have to think of something.

**LATER THAT NIGHT:**

Jayden had spent most of her day on the computer researching the name Adam Worth. The only reference she could gather was the inspiration for Jekyll and Hyde. Who ever Adam was he must have been a pretty twisted puppy. Two hours into her net foray Jayden got the bright idea to hack into Oxford. When she was in London last fall she had gone to Helen's school and found that they had put all of their Victorian Era records on line. She spent hour after hour perusing the class lists until she hit on the name. He was in the same class as her uncle, the former vampire, and Helen. What had they been into back then?

A clock chimed somewhere in the massive Sanctuary. Jayden looked out Helen's window and saw that night had once again descended. Time for her to hit the streets and find out if any lions knew of this guy. There was only one place to hire a lion in this town and that was Club Serengeti. Jayden rolled off the bed and went to the duffle she had stashed under Helen's bed yesterday. In it she had lion's wear. All lions preferred leather, the loved the feel of it, the smell, everything about it. Pulling out a short leather skirt, a leather halter, and knee high boots Jayden went to work to transform herself into more of the lioness she was than the house cat Helen had known all these years.

Jayden applied heavy kohl eyeliner, adding blood red lipstick, and a light dusting of honey powder to her skin. After her make-up was applied Jayden slipped the skirt on over her waist tying each individual lace nice and tight to keep the leather around her hips. Grabbing her shirt she gently put it on her torso making sure the cups were in place before securing the leather straps around her back. Looking herself over in the mirror Jayden hardly recognized her own reflection. It was a side of her she hadn't wanted to see again but to find this guy for Helen she would do anything. Grabbing her boots Jayden zipped them up and headed out to the main door.

Jayden was almost to the door, reaching out her hand to grasp the knob when she heard, "You can't away that easy." Turning she saw her uncle with Banta at his side. Her brother was dressed in black leather pants, biker boots, and a leather vest that showed off his muscular arms. With his hair tied back in a neat pony tail one would mistake him for a biker in stead of a lion. Jayden chuckled, "I was just going out for the paper. Gotta keep up with current events."

"If you're going, don't go alone. Take your brother with you." John replied in a patient tone, a fatherly tone. Deep down he hated what Jayden as wearing, it showed far too much skin, but at the same time he knew this was the style of all lions and he endeavored to keep quiet on the subject.

"What is this special ed 'take a buddy' day?" Jayden answered with out thinking.

"Where are you going?" Banta asked ignoring the barb his sister threw at him unintentionally.

"No where," Jayden rocked back and forth on her heals.

"Really, dressed like a hooker, you're going no where?" Banta cocked his head to the side motioning to his sister's clothing.

"I'm not a hooker." Jayden stomped her foot hissing at her brother.

"You're dressed like one." Banta pointed out.

"Yeah, well, you look like a male prostitute." Jayden fired back.

"Enough, children!" John stepped in. "Jayden where are you going?" He asked this time knowing that she would answer him.

"Club Serengeti," Jayden replied looking down at the top of her boots.

"Now, was that so hard?" John muttered. "If you're going out, do not go alone. Take your brother for back up." He put his hand on Jayden's shoulder, gently squeezing. "It's not safe to be alone."

Jayden looked up at him and nodded, "Ok," Looking to Banta she said, "Come on." She stepped back form her uncle and grabbed her long leather trench coat. Together brother and sister headed out into the night, headed to a club where lions reigned and humans were illegal.

Helen watched from the top of the stairs. The siblings insulted each other and John just stood there watching. To him those lions were more his children than Ashley would ever have been. Deep down that thought hurt her; it offended her maternal nature seeing John so comfortable with them. Except she knew better. She waited until Jayden and Banta were out the door before she descended the rest of the stairs. "What are they up to?"

John cleared his throat giving him time to order his words. "They're going to a club called Serengeti. It's for lions only." He knew she had been watching the little exchange between him and the two siblings.

"I've heard of it. It's in Old city isn't it?" Helen asked

"Yes, it's in a converted warehouse." Idly John reached over to Helen's hand, drawing his index fingers over hers. He wanted to see if she would pull away. Just for a second Helen flexed her fingers, touching more of his, before she pulled away. John smiled at that. She was willing to crawl into his bed, to comfort him during a nightmare, but she wouldn't let him touch her hand. Knowing Helen wanted to be alone; John donned his coat and followed his niece and nephew to the lion run club. He wouldn't be able to gain entry but he could watch for signs that they needed his help.

**CLUB SERENGETI:**

Jayden strode out of the dark of the ally into the light of the club where everyone could see her. The lioness inside of her was pleased when all the male eyes turned to her. Banta was to her left with every female eye on him. If they chose, they could have anyone they wanted. Bypassing the huge line Jayden sauntered up to the bouncer at the door. "Hey there Sebastian." She smiled a dazzling smile.

"Well, Jayden it's nice to see you again. Aren't you the picture of seduction? On the prowl tonight?" Sebastian asked.

"I could be. Are Shenzi and Nala inside?" Jayden questioned.

"They should be by the bar. You and your…"

"Brother."

"Can go on in. Try not to break too many hearts." Sebastian warned.

"No promises." Jayden laughed walking past the bouncer. As payment she pulled him close and licked from his jaw up to his temple. "You're the best." She whispered before moving inside.

Jayden walked into the den with the thrumming bass beat of the music slithering over her body. The feeling was something she had missed being away from here. Leaning over to her brother she shouted over the din, "You can find something to do?"

Banta pushed his sister off towards the bar as he went to find some entertainment of his own. If this place wasn't for lions only he would have considered bringing Kate. It looked like a place she might enjoy. That stopped Banta in his tracks. Why was he concerned with what Kate would like? Shaking his head Banta moved in and out of different females, looking them over and seeing who would be his playmate.

Jayden walked through the mass of swaying bodies being seduced by all the scent of the different male lions to cross her path. What she wanted was to go home and curl up with Helen while Helen read in bed before going to sleep. That was what she wanted to do. Except, she was here looking for someone who hired her brother. She was looking for Adam Worth. Would this man be really stupid to hang around a haunt that was over run with lions? Only if she was lucky.

A few feet from the bar Jayden caught sight of Shenzi and Nala. Back when she had used to sneak out of the Sanctuary, Jayden would come here to run with Shenzi and Nala. They used to be the queens of this club. 'Ah, the familiar pain of good memories.' She thought walking over to her friends. Nala was the first to turn to her. Jayden hadn't expected the lioness to launch herself off the stool and into her arms. Through the mass of tan hair Jayden locked eyes with Shenzi. Gracefully the other lioness stood, but she was anything but sedate when she hugged Jayden, who was still being hugged by Nala. Both of them, in concert, said over and over, "We missed you so much." Jayden felt her heart swell at that. This truly was home. She was back with her Pride.


	6. Chapter 6

Summary: Jayden is a lion abnormal with a link to Helen that none of the Sanctuary crew would ever guess. Out of the blue Jayden shows up to stir things up while Helen and Nikola get close to cracking the 3-D city. A/U

Rating: T

Pairing: Helen/OFC Helen/John

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Sanctuary or the characters.

A/N: sry for the long delay my muse was in a coma… lol! But he is getting better.

**LIONESS:**

Jayden couldn't believe her incredible run of bad luck. She and Banta had been at the Serengeti club for well over three hours and so far no lion had heard of a man named Adam Worth. Either they all were playing stupid or… Jayden didn't know what to think. She was now up on the cat walks watching Banta as he flirted half heartedly with all the eligible females in the club, but she knew her brother. He may play a man whore but he was a one woman lion. Whether he wanted to believe it or not Kate had her non-lion claws dug deep in him. As if on cue her brother looked at her and gave her a small signal that he was going to come to her. Jayden was tired, she wanted to sleep, but more than anything she wanted to be surrounded by Helen. Just the scent of her had the ability to calm the raging beast that lived so close to the surface.

"Hey baby sister, you ready to go home?" Banta asked coming up next to his sister. He had been waiting to leave almost as soon as he got her. Just the thought of Kate had his heart twisting. She was a human and he was a lion. Why did he have this insane need to be around her? It was driving him to shear insanity.

"More than ready. I want to go home and just hug Helen." Jayden admitted leaning her head on her brother's shoulder. She smiled when he slid his arm around her waist and turned them to the stairs.

"How much you want to bet Uncle John is waiting out in the shadows for us?" Banta joked. He remembered the one and only time their uncle had tried putting them in school. John Druitt, former Jack the Ripper, lingered outside all day just to make sure his three precious kittens were safe. They had only been in school for a month when they had been forced to move away.

"Probably. You know how protective he is over all of us." Jayden chuckled. Deep down she valued the love and attention her uncle gave them when they were kids all the way into adult hood. He would still love and value them into their deaths.

Banta kept his eye on all the male lions staring at his sister as they walked to the exit. If the music hadn't been too loud he would have issued a warning growl telling them to back off. His sister was not free for them to ogle over just because she was with in their line of sight. But something else tugged at him at the same time. Someone deadly was watching. It could have been that Adam Worth fellow Jayden mentioned. Only, he didn't see how. No one here knew who they were talking about. Of course that was flat out crap. Banta knew when someone was lying. This club reeked of lies.

Once they were outside Jayden spotted their uncle lingering in the shadows with a grin on his face. She couldn't help but smile in return. Just as Banta had called it; the Ripper was waiting for them. That warmed her heart. She pulled away from her brother and walked straight into the warm embrace of her uncle. Normally no one would dare touch John Druitt in such a manner, but she was his kitten, the one who reminded him of Kara, and that gave Jayden certain rights. Next to her Banta laid his hand on John's shoulder being very much a manly man rather than the cuddly kitten he would be otherwise.

John had been waiting outside for his niece and nephew for three hours until he saw them coming out of the club together. They were the last link to his sister and John guarded them fiercely. His kittens were what mattered to him. Sometimes they mattered more to him that the love of Helen Magnus. Instantly Jayden came to him hugging him. He kissed the top of her head while Banta put his hand on John's shoulder. "Are you ready to return to the Sanctuary?"

"Definitely," Jayden tucked her head up under her uncle's chin and waited for that first hint of his teleportation power to spread over her skin. Banta hated to teleport, but she loved it.

"Yeah," Banta grumbled. He had gone back to thinking about Kate. What would she think about him being at a club flirting with nubile female lions? Nothing good. Kate was invading his senses, his mind, everything. The more he thought about it the more and more he became confused in regards to Kate Freelander. Banta was distracted enough not to notice that they were back in the sanctuary. He looked around and saw Kate standing on the stairs watching them. Leaving his uncle he went to her on pure instinct.

"Banta found a new play mate." Jayden snickered. Almost at the same time she and John turned to see Helen entering the foyer. The tender woman of 159 looked at them in turn. Jayden could scent the smell of shock. Something about the way she and her uncle looked managed to shock Helen. Before she thought to move to Helen, John was already stalking close to her. Jayden smelled a rush of heat pouring from Helen. Jayden didn't need to be there. Quietly she lipped away down the dark hallway towards the library where she could lose herself in the splendor of the 3D city.

Jayden walked through the large book covered doors to see Nikola Tesla standing next to the symbol that had appeared when she had entered this room the first time. just as it had before the symbol started to glow and oscillate. It alerted the vampire to her presence. He turned looking at Jayden but the look he gave her was gentle not condescending or arrogant. "What are you doing in here?"

"Nothing," Nikola put his right hand on his hip, pulling together the arrogant Nikola Tesla that he showed to the world. Something about the lioness made him want to be a different person. She was forbidden fruit, like the tree of knowledge in the fabled Garden of Eden. If he dared to touch her then he had no doubt Druitt would be on him so fast that death would be the end result. No one knew of the kittens John had fostered for decades, not even Helen. To touch one would definitely mean death. "Shouldn't you be playing house cat with Helen?" He asked trying to stop staring at the amount of bear flesh she was sporting.

"She's with my uncle." Jayden answered look in past Nikola to the temple she had seen with her own eyes. There was some pull on her leonine genetics that had her wanting to go back there. Deep in the shadows of that temple was something that would prolong the life of her people. She knew that on pure instinct, but she had no way to get there. Moving around the building Jayden dropped her coat on the floor and studied the temple. She gave no further thought to her uncle and brother. Jayden was sure that by dawn both of their women would be happy.

"I'm sure that will have a happy ending. More like they're fighting," Nikola assured himself. Though, lately Helen had been watching John when she thought no one was looking.

"I doubt it." Jayden replied absentmindedly keeping her attention to the markings.

"What does that mean?" Nikola had to ask. He couldn't stop himself.

Jayden looked at him, giving him a sarcastic eyebrow raise; the same look she had picked up from her uncle. "Surely you know the whole man/woman dynamic and what heated emotions lead to. Were you not given that birds and bees discussion as a kid?" Jayden sniped. Her sudden bad mood shocked her. She had smelled the lust coming from Helen when she had seen John. Jayden had smelled it between Kate and Banta. Why were they getting lucky and she was left with the immortality challenged former vampire?

"Someone really needs to discipline you." Nikola snapped back. What was wrong with him? She looked divine standing there in barely there leather clothes. Her whole body seemed to glow and Nikola found himself dying for a taste of her. Just one taste of forbidden fruit would be worth the pain John would inflict on him later if the former ripper ever found out.

"Right," Jayden let her voice slip into a southern drawl, "Darlin' some how I don't think you're man enough to tame this lioness." She stepped closer, invading his personal space. She put her hands in her hips. If Nikola was intent on tempting the beast that lived so close to the surface then he was in for one rude awakening. She could be wilder that any animal.

**THE NEXT MORNING:**

**HELEN'S ROOM**

Helen shifted back against John, his bear chest molding to her back. Last night something had come over her. John had stalked towards her and instantly lust socked her low in her gut bringing about all the emotions she had tried to hide from him. Then he had slipped his arm around her waist, brought her hips hard in against his where she could feel him hard and wanting her. It was then she fell sway to the building emotions. Helen kissed him or John kissed her. But all she knew was they ended up in bed renewing the lust and love that burned between them constantly. He had taken her over and over, gently at first, and then rough and hard like she liked it. Helen's body had pushed her, heated when John came near, begging for his kiss, his touch. She finally gave into him letting John have his way with her heart and her body, while her mind went blissfully into the pleasure of it all.

"I told you, you couldn't escape." John growled from behind her. He knew she was awake and thinking about last night. Soon she would be hiding from him again, hiding from what they are. She would pull her work in tight around her like a shield. John needed to keep her off balance enough to work around that shield of hers. Now that he had her body there was no way he was going to go back to the cold remote darkness of the night without her by his side.

"I know." Helen answered. She knew now that she was tired of running. John would leave to protect her, to keep from hurting her. But in the end he would come back and she would be here waiting while living her life. "Who says I want to escape?" She turned in his arms putting more of her heated skin against him seeking his warmth. He was hers to do with as she pleased. John knew that, just as he knew that she was still his.

"You'll be with me?" John asked half in disbelief.

"Yes, John, I'll be with you. I'm tired of watching you leave not knowing when you'll be back." Helen sighed resigned to the fact that she was hopelessly in love with a man who held her heart in the palm of his hand. She placed her hand in the center of his chest and began to rub her index finger over his sternum. Helen held his heart as well.

John smiled pulling his woman closer to his body enjoying the feel of her breathing in and out in time to him. Helen was his woman for eternity. It was the solemn vow he made to her twice. He needed to keep it not only for her but for himself. She was his ray of hope for the future, for their future.

**KATE'S ROOM:**

Banta loomed above Kate his breathing heaving in and out of his lungs as he stayed buried deep within her body. He had found the stamina to play all night with this woman and he was just now tired out. There was that tugging at the back of his mind, the lion needing to bleed through and rest. But he didn't want to turn to a lion while he was with Kate. That part of himself would scare her no matter where she worked. No human could take the sight of him as a lion. Banta slid gently out of Kate falling to her side.

Kate couldn't believe at how many times her and Banta had come together. She never had that with any other lover. 'Must be a lion thing.' She reasoned feeling him slipping from her body detonating another series of small orgasms to accompany the major explosion she had had a few seconds ago. "God, I could sleep for a week," She breathed out. Banta had to be the best lover she ever had. He could touch her, every part of her and it would feel so right.

"Then you do that sweet thing," Banta made a motion to roll out of the bed, but her hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"No, stay…" Kate sat up against her body's wish.

"I'm a lion…" Banta tried to reason a way to leave, using his lion form as an excuse.

"I don't care," Kate wrapped her arms around Banta trying to draw him back down into the bed with her.

Banta wouldn't let her draw him back down. Instead he turned and let his lion side bleed through. The bones broke, reshaped. Tendons snapped and regrew. Before her was no longer Banta, but the male lion he was born to be.

"There's nothing wrong with sleeping with a lion." Kate slurred. She was close to sleep. Her last thought, feeling, was the warm fur of Banta's side coming in contact with her flesh. The gentle purring helped to speed her into sleep. She threaded her fingers gently through his wild mane of lion hair before closing her eyes and slipping back into sleep.

**NIKOLA'S ROOM:**

Jayden should be kicking herself right now. How could she have done what she did? It was wrong. It was disgusting. But it had served to scratch her itch for a while. Still she couldn't believe that it was Nikola that she had slept with. Her uncle was going to kill her, metaphorically speaking. Jayden hadn't dared to fall asleep after the fifth or six time. Beside her Nikola fell into an exhausted sleep where he tossed and turned. Slowly she slid out of the bed and slipped to the floor where she gathered up her clothes to sneak out of his room. She wanted to be ill or to take a shower. Maybe both. Jayden grabbed the white button up shirt she had taken off of Nikola last night. She put it on and buttoned it up so she could at least walk out of his room with some semblance of dignity.

"Running away?" Nikola asked as he spotted Jayden nearly out the door.

"I'm going for a shower or ten." Jayden growled. She didn't want to be near the arrogant former vampire anymore. It was bad enough she actually slept with him.

"You know what we did wasn't so terrible." Nikola said rubbing his eyes. His body was loose and still singing with the bed sport they had engaged in most of the night and morning. He stretched his arms feeling a twinge at his shoulder. Putting his hand to the crook of his neck Nikola brought his hand away with his fingers lightly stained with blood. "You bit me. Usually I'm the one who bites."

Jayden sighed turning back to the bed. She saw the mark on his neck and felt immense shame. "It was in the heat of the moment. All lions do it."

"I wonder what could possibly have come over us?" Nikola mused. The only woman he wanted to be with was Helen. But ever since he had first seen the lioness, she clouded his mind and made his body vibrate in need. She was excitement. She was vivacious. She was truly alive.

"If you need a manual… Oh My God!" Jayden threw up her hands. She dropped to the floor and fought back tears. Nikola was the man she shouldn't be with, shouldn't be sleeping with. One her uncle would kill him. Two he would likely disown her. But more than anything Jayden wanted to be with someone who didn't care she was a lion, who didn't care that she was going to die. She just wanted to use someone for once. Nikola, at the time, seemed to be willing. That was what she had a problem with.

Nikola wrapped the sheet around his waist going to the lioness of his floor. She was crying, but he didn't know why. Slowly her drew her close and just sat with her. This lioness, woman, quickly entwined herself in his life. Why did it have to be her? Why couldn't it be Helen? Somehow fate wasn't on his side when it came to Helen. Right now he couldn't imagine a day with out seeing Jaden, without smelling her subtle scent all around the room.

"I don't want to be here… but I can't pull myself away." Jayden choked out letting her body fall against Nikola. One of his hands cupped the back of her head keeping her close while the other rubbed small circles on her back. What was going on with them? Why was he being so gentle with her? "I'm so tired," She sighed.

"That I can cure," Nikola spoke low as he picked her up taking her back to the bed for her to sleep. Slowly he took the shirt off of her and watched as the lioness she was bled through from her human skin. One minute Jayden was there, and the next it was a lioness sleeping on her side breathing in and out while purring.

Nikola settled down Next to the sleeping Jayden and watched her furred side rise and fall. There was something so peaceful about watching her breathing. Reaching out to her he ran his hand over her fur. It was coarse and soft at the same time. He had never been this close to a lion before. Not before Jayden. One thing was for certain John was going to kill him for good this time. But for now he could freely enjoy watching her while she slept. Later he would deal with the repercussions of sleeping with John's prized kitten.

**LATER THAT AFTERNOON:**

**LIBRARY**

Nikola had left Jayden asleep in his bed to come back down to the 3D city that was currently torturing his intellect. There was something about the golden symbol that he was missing and now seemed to be a good time to dissect it while other were occupied. When he came over to the temple and the symbol there were lines and lines of data. "What…?" Nikola tried to read what was being recorded only his Sumerian was extremely limited. All he could catch was the number six and the world temple. Then and idea struck him. From the limited information he had Nikola deduced that only six people could enter the temple and three of them had to be lions.

Jayden sauntered into the Library to see Nikola back to work at poking around at the city. She knew when he had left but she needed the time to sort things out. So she had slept with the former vampire, it wasn't the end of her world. It's not like she hadn't slept with men she didn't like. There was just the smallest amount of emotion in Nikola's eyes when he looked at her. What was it about him?

Nikola felt Jayden enter the library even before he saw her. Turning to her he took in her appearance. She was, as usual, in a pair of black underwear and matching black camisole. Her tail was swishing back and forth and her lion ears were twitching. Only this time she tied a black and crimson sarong around her waist. Jayden looked like a vision. That struck Nikola low in the pit of his heart. "Sleep well?" He asked.

"Just… fine…" Jayden answered feeling like a fool. As much as she hated his superior attitude, last night had been fun and something she had needed. But when she woke up she had, for what ever reason, missed the warmth that was coming from Nikola. Jayden wasn't as all comfortable with that knowledge.

"I think I may have figured out why we did what we did last night," Nikola turned around back to the 3D temple.

"Or someone let the nubbins get loose again." Jayden posed rather than to think that this creepy 3D city was responsible for sleeping with Nikola Tesla. She would have to take ten showers all in a row just to get his scent off of. Only the scent of him on her skin, mixing, smelled so good to Jayden. What was wrong with her?

Nikola stopped studying the temple to go to the lioness. She was looking at him like she either wanted to kill him or kiss. He would turn her anger to other things, things that were more fun for him. Stalking her, just as she had stalked him last night, Nikola slid his arms around her waist, pulling the edge of the sarong up just enough so he could insert his thigh between hers. "Want to put that to a test?" He asked placing his lips to hers daring her to kiss him back.

**HELEN'S OFFICE:**

Helen came to her office for a few things and never left. So much had piled up on her during the night that she needed to make some headway before tonight. She had left john sleeping in her bed after a few more rounds of vigorous sex for breakfast. Not a bad way to start the day, but terrible when it spills over into the afternoon. Helen hadn't felt like this since the nubbins had been in her Sanctuary. That thought didn't sit well enough. She called up the camera feeds that covered the main lab and zoomed in on the Nubbins enclosure. The furry breeders were still on ice so to speak. So what had caused her ravenous hunger when she saw John? Helen dipped her hand under the collar of her shirt and rubbed at her left shoulder where she felt a twinge of surface pain. She had a light trace of dried blood. John bit her. Why didn't she remember that? Was she so enraptured in the shear pleasure of it all that she had merely confused the pain with the pleasure? Just thinking about John had her skin heating and tingling with the thought of his hands running along her flesh.

"Magnus?" Will poked his head in and saw his boss sitting at her desk rubbing at her left shoulder. "You ok?"

"Yes, Will, I'm fine." Helen answered dropping her hand and pulling her shirt back into place. "Why are you asking?" she asked quickly looking to the door hoping John would step into her office.

"Oh, no reason, just a lot of commotion going on last night between Kate's room, yours and Nikola's." Will answered dropping down into one of the chairs in front of her desk.

Helen was about to ask what Will had heard coming from her room when the fact that her protégé mentioned Nikola sank into her mind. "What do you mean Nikola?" she inquired.

"Well, there was as much noise coming from the other side of his door that was coming from Kate and yours. Should I even ask?" Will was sure he didn't want to know. He at least knew that Kate and Banta were having sex only because he caught them when he walked into her room on accident. Will assumed that Nikola had just brought a woman home, but he hadn't found Jayden.

"I don't know." Helen said. It was all she could say. "Something came over…"

"Helen!" John came in the office with anger riding him. And then he saw the protégé. "Sorry," he cleared his throat waiting.

"What's the matter, John?" Helen asked, going to him, ignoring Will.

"It's Jayden. I saw her…" John tried to explain what he had seen but the anger was too much for him.

Helen cupped his face, all thoughts to Will out of her mind, and forced him to stop pacing. "John. Stop and breathe. What are talking about? What's wrong with Jayden?"

"I went to the library to try and make sense of… things, when I saw Nikola kissing my niece." John growled out the last words. He was so angry that he wanted to kill Nikola.

"What do you mean 'Kissing Jayden'?" Helen couldn't make sense of it. She didn't wan to make sense of it.

John leveled his gaze to her and backed her up against the window putting his mouth very close to her, "You know kissing Helen. Lips, teeth, tongue." John wanted to kiss her terribly; it was a hard wrenching need. Instantly John backed away from her before he kissed her in front of young William.

Helen leaned back against the cool glass while trying to keep her breathing level. She had to remember that Will was still in the room. "Why….? What would…" She could string words into a sentence. John was a terrible influence on her in the state he was in. he was still aroused from this morning just she was. "What is going on here? What is going on with us?"


	7. Chapter 7

Summary: Jayden is a lion abnormal with a link to Helen that none of the Sanctuary crew would ever guess. Out of the blue Jayden shows up to stir things up while Helen and Nikola get close to cracking the 3-D city. A/U

Rating: T

Pairing: Helen/OFC Helen/John

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Sanctuary or the characters.

A/N: sry for the long delay my muse was in a coma… lol! But he is getting better.

**LIONESS:**

**LIBRARY:**

Jayden knew what she was doing was wrong. So vey very wrong. She was feasting at the mouth of Nikola Tesla like it was her life line to the world, to her sanity. He had taken them to the floor, and she had let him. Images flashed through her mind, images of her and Nikola in his bed at the Sanctuary. Last night she had enjoyed, conquered, and had been taken over and over until morning. She was letting Nikola in. Dammit! This shouldn't be happening. A moan escaped between their lips with Jayden giving up. There was a flash of green. Something caught her attention. Jayden had at least enough sense to push Nikola off her to get a better look at what the green flashing light was.

"A simple no would have sufficed." Nikola grumbled rising to his feet to follow the lioness. The green had caught his attention now too. It had joined with the symbol for lion. "Well, this is new."

"Just now getting that?" Jayden quipped reaching out her hand to touch the glowing mark. It looked like a symbol she had seen before. Instantly she pulled her hand back. "Maybe not a good idea," She muttered and looked at Nikola.

"JAYDEN!"

Jayden turned towards the thunderous growl of her uncle's voice a she stood in the entrance of the library. "Oh, crap." She knew she was in trouble. Her ears went back flat against her head as she walked to him with her tail twitching out of control.

"Outside, now." John growled again watching Jayden move past him. Beside him Helen shivered at the frigid feeling coming off him. As much as he wanted to comfort Helen and reassure her that his coldness was not for her or for Jayden but for Nikola, he couldn't right now.

"Go easy on her. I don't want my lioness terrified out of her mind." Helen warned John.

"Then you make Nikola leave." John threw a murderous stare in Nikola's direction. It pleased him when Nikola backed up and cleared his throat giving off just the hint of fear.

Helen knew John wouldn't enforce his threat. He was just angry and his anger would cool in time and with space. She was more concerned for the emotional state of Jayden. Helen waited for John to follow Jayden before she went to Nikola. "You've done it now Nikola."

"It wasn't my fault. It was Jayden looking all… lion-like and naughty." Nikola shook his head and licked his lips still tasting her heated kiss. Even he knew that was a lame excuse after he said it.

"You know John is going to come back in here and probably murder you for touching his niece." Helen patted Nikola on the back.

"Yeah, well he never did like me. And besides I don't think we had a choice last night anyway." Nikola curled his lip in disgusted at the no vacant doorway before turning back to the temple and the data compiling.

"What do you mean?" Helen turned.

"Well for one John's precious kitten never would have slept with me, but we were in here last night when this 3D temple started to glow and then…Let's just say we woke up in my room." Nikola ran his index finger over his bottom lip thinking. Idly he reached out with his left and started tapping different symbols in a random pattern.

**OUTSIDE:**

John was trying not to be so angry with Jayden. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew she wasn't responsible for what happened last night/early this morning any more than he and Helen were responsible. It had to be because of the 3D temple they were trying to figure out. It all came back to the lions he cared so deeply for. There were so many things about his precious kittens that he still didn't understand even after a hundred years of caring for them. "Start talking." He tried to be as calm as he knew how to be.

Jayden chewed her bottom lip still tasting the remnants of Nikola Tesla and wine. She shouldn't have had to explain to her uncle why she had sex with him. For one she didn't know why. Urges were a bitch that way. Second she wasn't so sure she regretted it anymore. Sex was just that, sex. It could be casual, it could be passionate, or it could be full of love. Jayden had used Nikola, or he had used her. She wasn't sure of that either, but she knew there was definite using going on.

"Jayden." John roared her name. He saw her visibly jump. A slice of guilt pierced his heart at what he was doing to her.

"I won't say I'm sorry." Jayden looked down at her bare feet. "Why should I? You and Helen were practically knocking holes in the wall. Kate and Banta were redefining the term noise pollution. Why shouldn't I have my fun too? Excuse me if Nikola was the only one around to scratch my itch." She crossed her arms and made a face that she knew was going to get to him.

John held up his index finger in warning. "Not the face." He hated the way she would pout, the way she would purse her lips. She was the only one to have John Druitt, Jack the Ripper, wrapped around her tiny finger. "I thought you hated Nikola?" he asked knowing that his personality and Jayden's were very similar.

"I do. You don't have to like someone to use them for sex." She dropped her arms. Her right hand played idly with the ties of her black sarong as she watched her uncle. The anger in him was fading. Jayden took two steps closer to her uncle and then rested her head on his chest. She hated when he was angry with her. "Please don't be angry with me anymore?'

John brought his arms around Jayden hugging her closer. "I'm not angry at you. I'm furious at Tesla." He kissed the top of her head.

"Why?" Jayden wondered. It couldn't be because and the annoying genius egomaniac had sex.

"He's just trying to take what's mine, what matters the most to me, what I love the most." Again John kissed the top of Jayden's head keeping her close to him. She was his family, his last link to the sister he held so close to his heart.

"Tesla could never take Helen away from you. She loves you too much. And you're stuck with me for as long as my life lasts." She laughed but felt no humor. Jayden just wanted her uncle to smile at her again. He did then, but it was sad and full of sorrow.

"I won't lose you or your brothers." John couldn't let Jayden go. He kept his arms around her, tighter this time. Besides Helen, his lion family was the one reason he hadn't complete gone off the rails and started killing again. "If there is a way to save you I will find it. Do you believe me?"

"I always believe you." Jayden snuggled closer in her uncle's arms feeling him fall into contentment for the first time in days since he had been in the Sanctuary again.

**LIONESS****:**

**LIBRARY**

Helen and Nikola were working on translating the cuneiform symbols when Jayden and John walked back in. Kate and Banta were still missing from this little gathering. They were probably still sleeping. Jayden moved away from her uncle and went to Helen's side. Being the feline that she was she nuzzled the side of Helen's neck with her temple in greeting. Idly Helen reached out running her hand down Jayden's head. "Hi," Jayden whispered.

"How did you sleep?" Helen inquired looking at her lioness.

"Fine, it was fine." Jayden glared when Nikola scoffed sending her an arrogant male glare. She must have hurt his ego, but then again Nikola had so much ego it was hard to tell which part was damaged. "Besides I bet you had a better night than I did." Jayden purred slipping from Helen's side to once again stand beside her uncle.

Helen smiled before she thought not to while looking at John, "Bite your tongue Jayden." It was hard to remain mad at the lioness, and Helen had to admit she did have a fantastic night.

"You bite it for me Helen," Jayden laughed feeling much like her playful self again. When Helen playfully glared at her she only smiled wider.

"Jayden," John warned tangling his fingers in his niece's hair tugging on the locks gently so her head would fall back to look at him. "Go find something to eat and wake your brother."

"Why me?" Jayden whined. She hated to go into a room Banta was sharing with a room. Every time she gagged at all the scents in the air.

"Because I asked you to." John answered turning her towards the door and pushing her gently. "Go. Now. Or else." He threatened lightly.

Just to be Jayden she turned and stuck her tongue out at her uncle and then laughed like a little kid when he only glared at her. She wasn't afraid of him and he never would be. He had taken her in when she and her brothers had been only two years old and raised them like his own. "I'm not afraid of you." Jayden responded. "So the 'or else' doesn't really bother me."

John shook his head and smiled. "Please Jayden will you do as I ask?"

For show Jayden sighed, "Ok." Then she was just a ghost in the doorway as her light laughter could be heard heading up the hall.

Helen moved to John placing her hand on his shoulder, "She's your favorite."

"Sometimes she is a pain in the ass," John smiled. "But she is the one who is most like Kara." He reached his hand up and placed it over Helen's. "And yes, she's my favorite." John chuckled lightly.

"Does anyone want to know what I found" Tesla asked breaking the moment.

"Not really," John wrapped his arm around Helen, a possessive gesture, and looked at Nikola, "But if we must, then please enlighten us Nikola."

"How very lion like of you Johnny boy." Nikola didn't miss the possessive nature John was showing in regards to Helen.

Helen was content to keep John close. It should bother her that he had his arm over her shoulders, but it didn't. "Nikola if you don't mind, please get on with what you were going to tell us."

Nikola motioned to the temple ruins, "You see this, here, and it's not of Hollow Earth. It's Sanguine Vampiris. This is where my ancestors created you adored kittens. This place requires three lions, and three humans."

"Nice work old boy, only I'm not a lion." John pointed out. It was too easy to state the obvious with what Nikola had just said.

"It doesn't matter, this," Again he motioned to the ruins, "Thinks you are."

"How can this holographic image think he's a lion, let alone think at all?" Helen asked. She knew there were many things about this holographic city that didn't make sense to her. But why would the map have a vampire temple in it.

"Because, Johnny has lived with lions more than he's lived with humans. Something must have rubbed off on him." Nikola flicked an irritated glance at Druitt. It should have bothered him seeing Druitt so close to Helen; after all he was in love with Magnus, wasn't he. Nikola mentally shook himself. He didn't know anymore. All he did now was that he couldn't stop thinking about the lioness; Jayden.

"This image only appeared after Jayden interacted with the map the first time." Without thinking Helen wrapped her arms around John's waist pillowing her head on his shoulder. It was the way she had used to think back in the old days when she had been mulling over a problem.

"Do you think this was part of the map was left for her?" John asked looking back to the door hoping Jayden would come breezing in with one of her cat in cream smiles he loved seeing from his niece so much. Dare he believe that contained in those ruins would be a way to save his lion family? There was only so much loss he could stand. Losing Jayden, or Banta, or even Tristan; John wouldn't survive it.

"But who could have known about her?" Nikola asked. "Or do you think your dear old father did this?" The former vampire wouldn't put it past Gregory Magnus.

"How would he know about Jayden?" John inquired.

"How does my father know anything?" Helen tossed out. This wasn't out of the realm for her father. "If it was, then he must have found a way for the lions to live past their dea…" She stopped when she felt John tense.

"Death date." John growled out the words as well as any human lion. "Go a head you can say it." He wanted to step away from Helen then, break the familiar bond of their body and pull the cloak of hatred about him again to mask the pain that ripped through him at the mention of his precious kitten's inevitable death.

"John, I…." Helen felt guilt well up inside of her. Deep down she knew Jayden was coming to the end of her life soon and that knowledge drove a knife in her heart. Only, the pain had to be worse for John. He had raised them, and the generations before them all in honor of his sister; the sister he had loved and tried to protect.

**KATE'S ROOM:**

Jayden had lingered outside Kate's door for ten minutes not wanting to go in. She hadn't heard any sounds but Banta was well learned. Reaching out she turned the door knob instantly smelling sex, sweat, and happiness. Never had she scented that particular true, soul deep happiness from her brother. Peeking in the door she saw Kate standing by the window in short, a tank and her hair pulled back. Banta was still in lion form asleep on the bed.

"You can come in." Kate turned to the female version of her sleeping lover when he was in human form. Jayden and Banta were double trouble twins with the looks to kill with all the pleasures that they could give.

Jayden didn't like the way that Kate stared at her. When she and Banta were both human and in the same room everyone often stared at them. One memory flitted through her mind. It was the time when her uncle has called them the double trouble twins. Banta and Jayden were always getting in trouble and blaming the other. John would just laugh at them telling them to play nice with each other. "I know what you're thinking." Jayden said.

"Yeah, and what's that?" Kate replied with just the slightest trace of an attitude that she could never get rid of.

"You're thinking how weird it is that Banta and I look so much alike. You're marveling at the amber of my eyes; at the way my mouth seems to pout like his, or even the soft warmth of my golden skin." Jayden smiled lightly at Kate once again looking at Banta on the bed still asleep in lion form. "I only came here at my uncle's behest to wake my brother."

"Oh," Kate looked at Banta then too. She had done some crazy things in her life, but never had she willingly curled up with a wild lion before. It amazed her how quickly she became used to the weirdness of her job.

Without another word Jayden slowly crawled onto the bed with Banta purring and lightly growling at him. One instance he was a lion and then the next he was human wrapping a sheet around his lower body. "Hi," Jayden nuzzled the side of Banta's neck. She hadn't done that since she was a kid.

"Good morning to you too little sister," Banta rumbled nuzzling the side of her neck in return as a greeting. Then he tracked his gaze to Kate giving her an easy smile. How easy he could smile at Kate when none of the other countless women he had had ever evoked this feeling of contentment from him.

"I hate to pull you out of bed, but Uncle John needs us in the library. We might be going to Africa ." Jayden wasn't going to mention what she overheard. There, in that ruined Vampire stronghold might be a cure to their limited life span. It was what she had been searching for but had never found. Jayden had even gone to the ruins, but was never granted entry. She just didn't have the right key. There was no way she could have known that she needed six people to gain entrance.

"Africa sounds fun. Who all get's to go?" Banta inquired keeping his eyes on Kate.

"The Druitt family, Tesla, and Kate," Jayden answered looking at Kate too.

"Why do I get to go?" Kate felt suddenly uncomfortable with the twin's identical amber eyes watching her.

"Because, you're with my brother," Jayden answered getting off the bed to head to the doorway.

**LATER THAT AFTERNOON:**

**FOYER**

Helen, John, Kate, and Nikola were standing around the table in the Foyer waiting for the lion twin's to come down the stairs. It had been decided that they would go to Africa and check out the ruins that had appeared on the Hollow Earth map after Jayden had interacted with it the first time. The only thing delaying them was Jayden and Banta; the double trouble twin's were taking their time. "What could be taking them so long?" Nikola muttered.

"They'll be here." John answered idly placing his hand on Helen's lower back. Something about this was worrying him and he couldn't place the feeling. It was as if he knew something was going to happen to either Banta or Jayden and it was setting him on edge. In return Helen slid her arm around his waist bringing him closer to her. She knew his needs, knew what would calm him.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine." Helen whispered sensing John's unease. She could feel it too. There was something that was going to happen. It was the same feeling she had had with Ashley just after she accused John of stealing the blood and staying around to gloat about it. That feeling had slammed into her like a freight train stealing her breath. Now the same knot of panic was doing it's best to constrict her.

"Finally," Kate exclaimed seeing Banta and Jayden coming down the stairs. She wondered what it was about twins and the need they had to dress alike. On the left Jayden wore short severely worn blue shorts, knee high scuffed hiking boots, and a white tank top that seemed to glow against her buttery tan. To the right Banta was dressed the same, ripped shorts, scuffed ankle high combat boots, and a white muscle shirt. Both of them had their hair tied back in a French braid with strands of golden hair falling around their faces.

"Sorry, we were having some human issues." Jayden smiled revealing a hint of fang. Her tail twitched right along with her leonine ears.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Helen asked taking her arm from around John.

"I'm fine, just having trouble looking human." Jayden answered flexing her fingers showing off deadly claws. She knew how she looked; her nose was flatter, her cheekbones shaper, her eyes an eerie amber.

"I think you look great." Nikola blurted out. He couldn't seem to help himself. She looked as she had the first time he had seen her; ethereal. When he looked at her the world didn't matter.

Jayden couldn't believe her lion ears. Tesla had just said she looked great. What was the world coming to? But that didn't stop her from taking the compliment. "Thanks." She and Banta went to stand next to their uncle.

"We should get going." Helen commented. "You should take the lions first just in case."

"As you wish." John put his hands on Banta and Jayden then disappeared.

Nikola looked at Helen, "Do you really think we'll find something to save them?"

"I hope so, for John's sake." Helen answered keeping her eyes on the spot John had disappeared from.

"'For John's sake'? Really?" Nikola couldn't help the note of distain in his voice at Helen's words. He had gotten attached to Jayden, even though he didn't see how.

"Nikola," Helen turned to him then, "Those lions are his family. He's had to watch them grow and he's had to watch them die. With each death he remembers Kara, his sister. You remember her? If John comes across Hyde, you can count on John to repay Adam for murdering his sister." Helen snarled being angry on John's behalf.

**AFRICA:**

**THE TEMPLE RUINS**

John, Banta, and Jayden appeared in the middle of a field with the ruins of the temple looming before them. The pillars were in a poor state. Some were crumbled in heaps on the ground; the other that had managed to stand the test of time wavered in the slight breeze rolling in through the tall grass. John was having flashes of what Bhalasaam looked like upon their arrival. He was not having a lot of faith in the outcome of this mission.

Jayden took a step away from her uncle and then froze. They were being watched and not by humans. Issuing a warning roar she waited for a reply with her brother and uncle looking at her like she had lost her mind. Not wanting to speak Jayden made a hand signal to indicate they were being watched. Banta turned around to scan the area to his back as to their uncle. The three Druitt's surveyed the immediate area trying to detect the threat Then, like mist off of a lake, three huge male lions materialized out of the tall grass staring at them with more than an animals understanding; the look they gave was all to human. "They're not going to bother us." Jayden whispered.

"Are you certain?" John asked keeping his gaze locked on the three lions that had joined them.

"Yes, they're saying were safe to pass." Banta answered. He could hear the lion's thoughts. "You should go and get the others."

"Stay put and don't wonder off." John ordered. Though, he knew they wouldn't be gone when he came back. Giving the three sentinels another look john willed himself back to the Sanctuary.

"Do you think they're like us; part human?" Jayden kept her eyes on the three hulking lions as they stepped closer.

"I don't think so." Banta answered stepping close to his sister.

**SANCTUARY:**

John reappeared behind Helen. He knew she knew he was there. There was no startling her anymore. "Ready to go?" He asked. The tension level in the room ratcheted up a notch since he had been gone.

Helen turned to him and felt no shame in wrapping her arms around him. Since he had been gone Helen's mind had been bombarded with images of Kara, the scene of her death, and the broken barely functioning man he had been for months after the funeral. "We should go."

John wasn't about to tell her he couldn't teleport three people. The truth was he had never tried before. Motioning to Kate he placed his hand gently on her shoulder and did the same when Nikola came close, only he dug his fingers in harder than was needed. Focusing he took them all back to Africa where his kittens waited for them.

**AFRICA:**

The four of them appeared with John swaying on his feet. He had expended too much energy in teleporting Kate, Helen, Nikola, as well as himself. John was a powerful abnormal but even he should have known his limits.

"John?" Helen's hands cupped his face. His pulse had sped up and he had gotten paler.

"I'm alright, just give me a minute." He leaned his forehead to hers drawing on her strength.

"I would hate to interrupt but why are there three giant lions staring at us?" Kate asked keeping her eyes locked on said lions. She took a step back stepping right into Banta. His arms surrounded her and his voice purred in her ear for her not to run or they would chase her down.

"Don't worry, they'll let us pass." Jayden spoke going over to stand next to Nikola. The lion to her left had been eyeing him wondering what he would taste like. They could smell the scent of Sanguine Vampiris on him. Over hearing that thought bothered her slightly, enough so that she went to stand next to him glaring at the lion that had had such a thought.

"What has you glaring?" Nikola asked lightly brushing his finger tips over her shoulder.

"That lion to the left wants to know what you taste like." Jayden answered with a wry smile. "And not in the fun way." She added with a dark chuckle that sounded so much like her uncle's. There was the need to tease Nikola with a world he knew nothing about.

"Ah… well…" Nikola cleared his throat stepping behind Jayden looking at the lion she indicated. The lion in question actually licked its lips. That made Nikola nervous and he didn't do nervous real well.

"Don't worry Nikola; Jayden won't let them turn you into a tasty treat." John quipped pulling back from Helen. The dizziness had abated and he felt him self again. He had wanted to stand back, to give Helen space, but she took his hand showing him that she was by his side.

"Are you ready for this?" Helen asked lacing her fingers with John's. she knew he had expended too much energy and she hoped that it wouldn't harm him in the long run. She couldn't lose anyone else. Just as John wouldn't survive the death of one of his precious kittens, she could survive his death. Should John ever die the shred of her that was truly human would die as well.

"As ready as I'll ever be." John replied placing a gentle kiss to her lips. A storm was gathering between all of them. He just hoped that Jayden and Banta would be spared in the devastation that John felt was coming.


End file.
